Chitra Rajeshwari describes herself as a global citizen who is an agent of change.
“I’ve lived everywhere and travelled so much,” the executive director of the US-based Avasant Foundation (AF) who has been working with NGOs since she was a teenager, told WMN.
The foundation is the social development arm of global management strategy firm Avasant.
Last week Rajeshwari travelled to Trinidad and Tobago on the most recent of her change missions – to explore the possibility of offering underserved young people access to skills training and education with the goal of job creation in the digital economy. That, and to visit her sister who is married to a Trini and lives in Tunapuna.
While her not-for-profit work has seen her volunteer her time and efforts to better the lives of people ranging in age from babies to senior citizens, she believes the demographic she was meant to work with is young people.
“I’ve worked with young children in places like New York…and at an NGO in Australia with more mature people…But the core of any economy is the youth. They are the building blocks and if you don’t give them access they can make or break any economy. They can be vulnerable and can be brainwashed into wrong things. If you give them an opportunity it can really change them…Give them an opportunity to change their lives and have that ripple effect.”
Rajeshwari said AF has been doing not-for-profit work since 2011, and as its executive director she is responsible for whatever impact it has around the globe.
“When I put my head on my pillow at night, I either breathe a sigh of relief and say, ‘this was a good day’ or I tell myself, ‘Oh, there is so much more to be done.’ It never ends. It’s like a sentence that goes on and on because I’m responsible for the programmes, operations, getting funding and to make sure the foundation is thriving by doing its mission,” and ensuring that its footprints are expanded wherever there is a need for it. And she absolutely loves it, especially as it involves a lot of travel.
[caption id="attachment_1005371" align="alignnone" width="439"] Chitra Rajeshwari, executive director of the US-based Avasant Foundation, has been working with NGOs since she was a teenager. - FUSION CREATIVE STUDIO[/caption]
“I was born and raised in India and my father was an air force officer, so we moved a lot. That travel bug was in me from a very young age. It is in my DNA…My home is in San Francisco and I can easily fly from San Francisco to London and back in two day and not be bothered by it.”
So it was no surprise when, as a young woman, she started working in the travel industry. Eventually, though, she switched careers and took up a job in the banking sector.
“I left the travel industry and worked for Citigroup (a US multinational investment bank and financial services corporation), so it was like from one extreme to the other. Selling travel to people was so much fun, then to working for a bank. That can be very dry, but it was
