Rajasvini (she/her/they/them) is a passionate advocate for participatory grassroots-led power building and a lifelong student of social movements. In a career devoted to racial, economic, and climate justice, she has previously led an international public foundation that funds grassroots organizing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; grown a national youth development social enterprise; managed a public telecommunications infrastructure fund addressing the digital divide in the Southern United States; and worked as a community organizer, researcher, planner, policy analyst, and strategy consultant. Born and raised in India, Rajasvini earned a Master of Public Affairs with a focus on telecommunications policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor′s in Astrophysics and Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities & Social Sciences from UC Berkeley.

Vini also spent several years working in rural Kenya with community leaders, an experience she credits as having inspired her to work to transform philanthropy and international development. To that end, she currently serves on the boards of Tides Advocacy, Swift Foundation, General Services Foundation, and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).

Vini teaches courses on solidarity praxis and movement building approaches to leadership at the University of Vermont’s Masters of Professional Studies in Leadership for Sustainability program and also serves as an advisor to the Democracy Frontlines Fund and Gameheads Oakland. She is also a published poet, essayist, popular educator, yoga instructor, and leadership coach. When not engaged with community organizations, Rajasvini can be found nesting with her family in Richmond, CA, hiking in the redwoods or plotting the next Zoom dance party.