Ingrid Srinath (India)

Founder and Director, Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy

Ingrid Srinath is the founder and director of the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP) at Ashoka University. CSIP has produced path-breaking research on philanthropic flows, the impact of changes in foreign funding, the nonprofit ecosystem, and regulatory reform, besides providing world-class capacity-building programmes for nonprofit leaders and young people starting their careers in the sector.

A graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Ingrid transitioned from her 12-year career in advertising to the nonprofit sector in 1998 to work with CRY (Child Rights and You), where she was CEO from 2004-2008. At CRY, she reengineered resource mobilisation strategies and systems to achieve rapid and resilient growth through pioneering innovative fundraising channels and reinventing the brand to embrace rights-based advocacy. Spearheading the movement to amend India’s constitution to make education a fundamental right was another key achievement of her tenure as CEO.

From 2008-2012, Ingrid served as Secretary General at CIVICUS, an influential global network of nonprofit organisations steering its leadership of civil society through the turbulence of the global financial crisis at that time.

Ingrid was Executive Director of CHILDLINE India Foundation, India’s emergency helpline for children in distress and, subsequently, CEO of Hivos India, the Indian arm of the Dutch global NGO, where she led the organisation through the challenging circumstances of the clampdown on foreign funding in India.

She has served on the advisory boards of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Development Co-operation Forum (UN DCF), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Young Lives project at Oxford University, Alliance magazine, Hasirudala, Danamojo, the Prajnya Trust, India Development Review (IDR), the Centre for African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI) and Fair Share of Women Leaders, and on the boards of the Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support (WINGS), the INGO Accountability Charter, The Rules, Public Interest Registry, and Majlis Law.