Neera Nundy serves as the Co-founder and Partner at Dasra India, a strategic philanthropic organization established in 1999. Her primary objective is to empower social entrepreneurs and funders by providing the necessary support to achieve ambitious goals in areas such as gender equality, urban resilience, climate action, sanitation, emphasizing system change, and collaborative philanthropy. Neera leads ecosystem-building initiatives and fosters key partnerships with renowned institutions like Harvard University, Stanford University, and USAID to drive social impact acceleration. In addition to her strategic role, Neera actively contributes to bringing capacity building, knowledge, funding, and networks to the sector.
A Harvard Business School MBA graduate, she is a fellow of the third class of the Kamalnayan Bajaj Fellowship of the Ananta Aspen Center and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Neera’s steadfast efforts, coupled with Dasra’s two decades of consistent work, have manifested in the form of GivingPi, India’s First Family Philanthropy Network. This initiative underscores her commitment to shaping the strategic philanthropy movement and fortifying the family philanthropy infrastructure in India.
Neera Nundy’s dedication and accomplishments through Dasra have earned her several prestigious awards and recognitions. Forbes India recognized her as one of the Self Made Women in 2020, and she received the “Agent of Social Change” Award at Vogue Women of The Year 2019. Neera was honored with the “Special Contributions by Woman” award at the 15th Indo-American Corporate Excellence Awards by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce. She is also a recipient of the Canadian Governor General’s Medallion for her dedication to addressing India’s critical development challenges and the Forbes Philanthropy Award in the Crossover Leaders category.
Apart from her professional achievements, Neera is an active board member of LGT Venture Philanthropy, The Hunger Project, American School of Bombay, and Aangan Trust. Canadian by origin, she has been a Mumbai resident for 21 years, co-running Dasra with her husband Deval, and is passionately raising her feminist sons – Ayush, Laxman, and Akbar.