Ingrid Srinath is the founder Director of the Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy (CSIP) at Ashoka University, the first academic centre in South Asia to focus on these themes. CSIP has produced path-breaking research on philanthropic flows, the impact of changes in foreign funding, the non-profit ecosystem and regulatory reform, besides providing world class capacity building programmes for non-profit 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 non-profit sector in 1998 with CRY (Child Rights and You), where she was CEO from 2004-08. At CRY she re-engineered 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.
She served as Secretary General from 2008-12 at CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an influential global network of non-profit organisations, steering its leadership of civil society through the turbulence of the global financial crisis.
She 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, managing its challenging circumstances through 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.