Ankur shah – Head of Sector Strategies & Education Portfolio Lead , Acumen, Dubai

“Acumen uses bright minds to address deep political-economic issues while solving the operational challenges of delivering critical services to the poor. What could be better?”

Ankur leads overall sector strategy for our investments and has direct responsibility for the Education portfolio. Prior to this, Ankur has played multiple roles at Acumen, including Interim India Director and global Business Development Manager. Before he joined Acumen, Ankur worked for several years with leading private investors focused on financial access, energy and clean water for low-income markets in India. He also helped set up WaterHealth India, which now serves ~600 villages with drinking water; and managed a project for Robin Hood Foundation to build libraries in 25+ New York City public schools, now serving ~20,000 students. Ankur started his career with McKinsey & Company advising Fortune 100 companies in the US and Europe on M&A and growth opportunities.

Ankur has an Architecture degree from Cornell University, and a Masters in International Development from Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he was a Reynolds and a Soros Fellow. Ankur is also an Advisory Board member for the Centre for Civil Society, an independent non-profit research and education organization in Delhi.