Speakers

Ankita Narula is the Vice President of Development at Akshaya Patra USA, known for her rapid rise and deep commitment to nonprofit leadership, innovation, and global social impact. With an MBA from Boston and early corporate experience, Ankita found her calling in the social impact space, driven by a mission to eradicate hunger and empower children through education. She has also volunteered with grassroots initiatives across multiple countries, bringing a global perspective to her leadership.

During her tenure, Akshaya Patra—the world’s largest NGO-led school meal program—has expanded its global footprint, recently celebrating its 4 billionth meal at the United Nations and marking the historic milestone of 5 billion meals served, commemorated by the Hon’ble President of India, Droupadi Murmu, at Rashtrapati Bhavan—official residence of the President of India. The organization now serves over 2.35 million children daily in India through 78 centralized, technology-enabled kitchens, while also delivering disaster relief in Nepal and Bangladesh.

Ankita has led initiatives in scaling operations, integrating technology, and building sustainable partnerships, helping Akshaya Patra innovate at the intersection of impact, efficiency, and entrepreneurship. Internationally, the Foundation engages diaspora communities and philanthropists in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Africa, with Ankita driving collaborations with corporations, family offices, and impact investors to scale food security solutions worldwide.

A sought-after speaker and panel moderator, Ankita addresses philanthropy, social innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, women’s leadership, mental health advocacy, and impact investing. She frequently curates and moderates high-level conversations for family offices, multilateral forums, and cross-sector summits, championing cross-border collaboration to solve global challenges.

Akshaya Patra Foundation:

Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the world’s largest NGO-run school meal programs, dedicated to eliminating classroom hunger and enabling education for children. Founded in 2000, the organization partners with governments, communities, corporations, and philanthropists to provide nutritious meals that improve school attendance, learning outcomes, and overall child well-being. Today, Akshaya Patra serves more than 2.35 million children every school day through a network of technology-driven kitchens and community-based feeding programs across India. The organization has served over 5 billion meals since its inception and is widely recognized as a global model for scalable social impact and public-private partnership. By addressing the critical link between nutrition and education, Akshaya Patra helps create pathways to opportunity for millions of children and contributes to long-term social and economic development.