2014-12-05
Rajiv is based in New York. He formerly served as Acting Executive Director and Head of Programs for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), the world’s largest civil society alliance working to end poverty and inequality. During this time he led global action towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, supported ‘The Elders’ with their Every Human Has Rights initiative and helped spearhead citizen participation in the establishment of a Post 2015 Sustainable Development Framework as a co-founder of ‘The World We Want 2015’ initiative.
Rajiv also currently serves as a Trustee of Oxfam where he advises on policy, campaigns and global programs and served as an elected Board Member and Corporate Secretary of CIVICUS: The World Alliance for Citizen Participation based in Johannesburg, where he represents civil society organizations in more than 100 countries and is the youngest director in the organization’s history. He also serves on the Board of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy and has previously worked as a Senior Public Sector Consultant with CapGemini.
From 2005-2007 Rajiv served 2 elected terms as Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, during which time he was also a Senior Advisor to the British Council and a publicly appointed member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland Committee. In 2008 Rajiv founded the CIVICUS Youth Assembly and continues to drive the development of a Youth Participation Index.
Rajiv’s parents were born and raised in Kisumu, Kenya, with his family originating from Gujarat India, but migrating to Scotland after the spread of violence in neighboring Uganda. He holds a First Class Honors Degree in Economics from the University of Strathclyde and a Masters in Public Policy and Administration (MPA) with a focus on International Economic Policy from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
