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Global Development Advisors
DALBERG EXPANDS ITS PRESENCE IN INDIA
Region welcomes three new Partners and establishes office in New Delhi
Dalberg Global Development Advisors is pleased to announce that after fast growth in its Mumbai
office, Dalberg has added an office in New Delhi. With over 50 full-time multilingual staff in the Asia
region, Dalberg is committed to helping clients design, deliver, and evaluate socially impactful
policies and initiatives, leveraging knowledge from our work across India and the globe. Our recent
client engagements have spanned diverse topics from scaling-up green growth models to designing
rice fortification interventions, and from strengthening initiatives to fight human trafficking to
tackling the region’s massive sanitation and water scarcity challenges.
This growth is exciting but also presents us with an imperative. We recognize that expanding our
impact footprint requires keen and deliberate stewardship. We are, therefore, pleased to announce
three new additions to our Asian leadership team—Pritha Venkatachalam, Rajen Makhijani, and
Varad Pande.
New Members of Dalberg Asia’s Leadership Team
Pritha Venkatachalam joins Dalberg as Principal and leads our New Delhi office. Her strong expertise
in the global health, international infrastructure, and agriculture sectors further strengthens our
work in this space. In her previous role, Pritha was a Director at CEPA, leading the global health
practice with mandates in the infrastructure and agriculture sectors across developing and emerging
market countries. She has advised clients on a range of social impact issues ranging from policy,
strategy development, market/value chain studies, design and evaluation of development
interventions, innovative financing, and governance and institutional frameworks. Pritha holds an
MBA from IIM Bangalore and a postgraduate degree in Development Management from the London
School of Economics.
Rajen Makhijani comes on board as Associate Partner and anchors our Singapore office. Rajen leads
leadership and change management advisory engagements for Dalberg and co-leads Dalberg Asia’s
initiatives in inclusive business and CSR. Under his stewardship, the firm is now assessing country
head aspirants, facilitating team building and developing future leadership for UN agencies globally.
He is leading similar work for NGOs and social enterprises, including founder-succession. In inclusive
business and CSR, he is helping multilaterals and companies identify and expand investments and is
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Global Development Advisors
designing community engagement strategies. Before Dalberg, he worked with McKinsey, ECS, and
Heidrick & Struggles. A former Fellow of the McKinsey Centre for Asian Leadership, a Sir Dorab Tata
Merit Scholar, and a Citibank Leadership Award winner, Rajen holds an MBA from IIM Calcutta and
an undergraduate degree in Commerce from Mumbai University.
Varad Pande joins Dalberg’s Mumbai office as Associate Partner, with significant advisory experience
as a Ministerial Advisor in the Government of India, as Project Leader at the Monitor Group, and as
advisor at the World Bank. He has also been an Advisor on two recent UN Panels, on Sustainable
Development and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. With expertise in sustainable livelihoods and
skills, financial inclusion, inclusive businesses, water and sanitation, and climate change, he brings
significant cross-sectoral knowledge to bear on core development challenges. A regular op-ed writer,
Varad holds an MPA in International Development from Harvard Kennedy School, a postgraduate
degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and an undergraduate degree in Economics
from St. Stephens College, University of Delhi.
A growing partnership
Pritha, Rajen, and Varad will be joining the firm’s current Partners in Asia, Gaurav Gupta and Adrien
Couton, to form an expanded Asia leadership team. Together, this team brings deep expertise in
many of the core challenges facing the region. Gaurav heads Dalberg’s Asia operation and leads the
firm’s energy access practice. He also works closely with corporates and foundations on inclusive
business practices and social responsibility. Adrien leads Dalberg’s water and sanitation practice
globally and also works on improving agricultural value chains and impact investing.
ABU DHABI | COPENHAGEN | DAKAR | GENEVA | JOHANNESBURG |LAGOS | LONDON | MUMBAI
NAIROBI | NEW DELHI | NEW YORK | SAN FRANCISCO | SINGAPORE | WASHINGTON DC