Nikita Desai is the associate director for East Coast Philanthropy for The Asia Foundation in New York. Nikita oversees the private fundraising strategy on the East Coast for The Asia Foundation. She previously served for six years as director for policy and corporate programs at the Korea Society. Prior to that, she was with the Asia Society and Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. She has consulted for The Asia Foundation, World Bank, USAID, Femmes Africa Solidarité, Alliance for International Women’s Rights, and the office of New York Mayor Bloomberg on gender and social development issues. She is also a Pacific Forum CSIS Young Leader (2016-2017).
Education: Nikita Desai holds a master’s degree in International Policy Studies, specializing in gender and international development, from Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and graduated as a Fulbright scholar with an International MBA from Spain’s IE Business School. She speaks Gujarati, Hindi, Spanish, Mongolian and English.