Megha Desai, President of The Desai Foundation

Simi speaks with Megha Desai, President of the Desai Foundation. The Desai Foundation empowers women and children through community programming that elevates health, livelihood and menstrual health, primarily in India. Initially established by her parents 25+ years ago, the public foundation has impacted 5 million+ lives across 2500 communities to date.

Before pivoting to the nonprofit world, Megha had a formative, decade-long career in the advertising industry. She previously founded MSD (Marketing. Strategy. Dharma.), a marketing shop for emerging impact brands. She served clients around the world during her time at top advertising agencies like BBH, Wieden and Kennedy, and Ogilvy. Today, Megha sits on the advisory boards of several startups and nonprofits including Spicewell and TakeTwo Film Academy. She is an active contributor to the Boston Globe and Huffington Post, and is also an avid singer as a member of the Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective of 60+ women that has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. In this episode, Megha delves into her unexpected foray into the social sector, insights from the advertising industry, and what the leadership of a public foundation truly entails.

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