2018 Asia Foundation Development Fellow
Rural Entrepreneurship Facilitator, India
Ashutosh Kumar is the executive director of Jagriti, a non-profit organization that promotes and supports entrepreneurship across rural India. For 10 years, Ashutosh has led the Jagriti Yatra program, an innovative 15-day entrepreneurship course which takes place along a 5,000-mile train ride across India. Over 4,000 youth have participated, with 28 percent of them becoming entrepreneurs themselves. He also leads the Jagriti Enterprise Centre, a regional incubation program that supports entrepreneurs who run small- and medium-scale businesses, and is regularly called to speak at regional universities on topics such as entrepreneurship, innovation, and youth leadership. In 2013, he was selected for the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program fellowship. Ashutosh holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Technology and Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, in Kharagpur.
