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Krishna Thacker

Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Krishna Thacker is a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, based in Delhi, India. He has over 15 years of experience in economic development, inclusive finance, and corporate social responsibility, working across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors in the Asia region.

Professional Background

Krishna has a diverse career that includes roles such as:

  • Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since January 2023, focusing on initiatives related to financial health and digital financial services.

  • Assistant Vice President at MetLife Foundation, where he led philanthropic efforts in the Asia region for nearly nine years before transitioning to his current role.

  • Practice Group Leader for the G2P Payments and Digital Financial Services Practice at MicroSave, where he contributed to financial inclusion consulting.

  • Asst. Project Coordinator at Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, where he was involved in microfinance activities and capacity building for savings and credit federations.

Areas of Expertise

Krishna specializes in:

  • Financial health and fintech
  • Social entrepreneurship and livelihood initiatives
  • Go-to-market strategies and product development
  • Training design and delivery, as well as risk management

He has worked extensively in both developed and developing countries, establishing a strong network of relationships across various sectors in the region.12

Highlights

Jan 26 · linkedin

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Mar 21 · linkedin

Happy to share that I’ve recently joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation team in India. Part of the Gender Equality division (that takes a more integrated and expansive view), my work would focus on building our women’s economic power portfolio in India.

We don’t need any reasons whatsoever to justify the need to expand economic opportunities for women. Having said that, unleashing women’s economic power is imperative to India’s growth and development aspirations. We simply cannot achieve our SGD, GDP or any other aspirational goals if we leave 50% of our population out of it.

While I am extremely fortunate to be working with an exceptional set of colleagues at the Foundation who are committed to solving some of the most wicked problems we face as a society, there is clear realization that working on goals and opportunities of this scale and magnitude requires a whole of society approach. The public sector, the private sector as well as the civil society, all of us need to come (and work) together to create the right conditions and develop bold solutions to enable, support and sustain the growth and momentum.

With that spirit of cooperation, optimism, and learning, I look forward to working with many of you towards our shared goal of expanding economic opportunities and freedom for women in India.

Related Questions

What are Krishna Thacker's key achievements at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation?
How has Krishna Thacker's experience in inclusive finance influenced her work at the Gates Foundation?
What specific projects has Krishna Thacker led at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation?
How does Krishna Thacker's background in grassroots not-for-profits impact her current role?
What are some notable successes Krishna Thacker has achieved in digital finance consulting?
Krishna Thacker
Krishna Thacker, photo 1
Krishna Thacker, photo 2
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Experience

Senior Program Officer at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Jan 2023 - Present)
Assistant Vice President, MetLife Foundation (Oct 2021 - Jan 2023), Director - Asia Region, MetLife Foundation (Mar 2014 - Oct 2021)

Education

Post Graduate Diploma in Development Management, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (2004 - 2005), Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) in Advance Accountancy and Statistics, J B Thacker Commerc

Location

Delhi, India