Deval Sanghavi and Neera Nundy’s journey began at Morgan Stanley. It’s where they met. It’s where they fell in love. It is also where they learned the core skills that would enable them to permanently quit the private sector and found India’s largest strategic philanthropy organization, Dasra.
Dasra’s model is simple: The organization aims to maximize impact by working closely with philanthropists on one hand, and social entrepreneurs and nonprofits on the other. Their work with philanthropists today is similar to the work Sanghavi did with wealthy investors when he was an analyst at Morgan Stanley: Helping them decide where to invest their money for maximum returns — except in this case, the “returns” are in terms of impact, rather than profit.
About the author
Malia Politzer
Malia Politzer is an award-winning long-form journalist who specializes in international development, human rights issues and investigative reporting. She recently completed a fellowship from the Institute of Current World Affairs in India and Spain. For three years, she worked as a feature-writer at Mint, India’s second-largest financial newspaper, where she wrote about international development, strategic philanthropy and impact investing. She holds an M.S. journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she was a Stabile Fellow for Investigative Journalism, and a B.A. from Hampshire College.
