Ashish Dhawan

Ashish Dhawan
Head and shoulders photo of Ashish Dhawan
Born
Ashish Dhawan

(1969-03-11) March 11, 1969
New Delhi, India
Alma materHarvard Business School
Yale University
OccupationsPhilanthropist
Former private equity investor
Known forFounder-Chairperson of The Convergence Foundation
Founding Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Ashoka University
Co-Founder of ChrysCapital
Board member of
Gates Foundation
Spouse
Manisha Dhawan
​
(m. 1998)​
WebsiteCentralSquareFoundation.org TheConvergenceFoundation

Ashish Dhawan (born March 11, 1969) is an Indian philanthropist and former private equity investor who co-founded one of India's leading private equity funds, Chrysalis Capital (ChrysCapital).[1] He is the Founder-Chairperson of The Convergence Foundation[2][3] and Central Square Foundation,[4] and Founding Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Ashoka University.[5][3]

He also serves on the board of trustees of Gates Foundation since 2022.[2]

Education

Ashish attended St. Xavier's Collegiate School, followed by St. James' School in Kolkata.[6][7] He is a graduate of Yale University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in applied mathematics and economics, and Harvard Business School, where he earned his MBA.[6][8]

Career

From 1992 to 1993, Ashish worked on the Wall Street at a boutique investment bank, Wasserstein Perella & Co., where he was the only Indian analyst.[7] He then moved to McCown DeLeeuw & Co., an eight-person private equity firm in California, where he was the junior-most associate.[7]

After completing his MBA in 1997, Ashish went to work at Goldman Sachs, where he was part of the Risk Arbitrage Group.[7] At the age of 29, he decided to leave New York to return to India.[9]

In 1999, he co-founded ChrysCapital in Mumbai with Raj Kondur, a classmate from Harvard Business School.[7][10]

Philanthropy

In 2012, Ashish left his career as a private equity investor to establish Central Square Foundation (CSF), a non-profit organisation focused on ensuring quality school education for all children in India. CSF's mission is to create effective, scalable, and sustainable change in the school education system in India, by focusing on Foundational Literacy & Numeracy (FLN); EdTech & AI; Early Childhood Education (ECE); School Governance; and High Potential Students. [11][12][13]

In 2014, he spearheaded the launch of Ashoka University, billed as India's first "Ivy-league-caliber" liberal arts university,[5] together with other Indian philanthropists and entrepreneurs.[8][14]

His focus then expanded to include institutions for building leadership (India Leaders for the Social Sector), curbing air pollution (Air Pollution Action Group), enhancing government effectiveness (Centre for Effective Governance of Indian States), and driving strategic philanthropy (Accelerate Indian Philanthropy).

In 2021, The Convergence Foundation (TCF) was established to give form to Ashish and Manisha Dhawan's philanthropic vision. TCF is an Indian philanthropic foundation. It incubates and partners with mission-driven nonprofit organisations working on job creating economic growth, human capital development, and growing the development sector. The TCF network now includes more than 20 non-profits dedicated to addressing India’s biggest challenges. These organisations address critical capacity gaps, inform policymaking, and introduce solutions, working in close partnership with governments at various levels.[1][3]

Ashish also endowed the Renu and Anand Dhawan Professorship at Yale University to bolster scholarship in India and South Asia Studies.[15]

Accolades

In 2012, Ashish was recognised as the NextGen Leader in Philanthropy by Forbes India for his charitable work.[16] He also placed 15th on the 2014 Hurun India Philanthropy List, a ranking of the most generous individuals in India produced by Hurun Research Institute.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Bhargava, Anjuli (April 10, 2022). "Convergence Man: Former ChrysCapital chief Ashish Dhawan embarks on an ambitious set of goals". Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Gates Foundation appoints Indian philanthropist Ashish Dhawan". The Times of India. August 18, 2022. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Advisory Board". The Convergence Foundation. Archived from the original on June 29, 2026. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Our Team". Central Square Foundation. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Bearak, Max (November 26, 2013). "A New University Offers Liberal Arts as Higher Education Alternative". The New York Times. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Sridharan, R. (January 13, 2008). "Private Equity Pasha: Ashish Dhawan". Business Today. New Delhi. ProQuest 198258783. Archived from the original on January 19, 2025. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Mitra, Moinak (December 20, 2013). "Lessons learnt: Why foresight foreshadows all else for Ashish Dhawan, CEO of Central Square Foundation". The Economic Times. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Kazmin, Amy (March 8, 2018). "Ashoka University: Ivy League, Indian-style". Financial Times. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ Sahad, P. V. (July 17, 2005). "One-Man Industry; Not counting institutional investors, Ashish Dhawan has brought in the most money into private equity in India over the last seven years. What is it about the 36-year-old that makes global investors put millions behind him?". Business Today. New Delhi, India. ProQuest 198247982. Archived from the original on January 19, 2025. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  10. ↑ Sengupta, Snigdha (March 21, 2011). "Ashish Dhawan's New Ambitions". Business World. New Delhi, India. ProQuest 2121183481. Archived from the original on January 19, 2025. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  11. ↑ Rai, Mridu (February 10, 2014). "Take a lot of risks and do something different: Having given up a successful and lucrative career as a venture capitalist to work towards revamping the education sector in India Mridu Rai finds out more about the man with a vision. Ashish Dhawan/ CEO, CENTRAL SQUARE FOUNDATION". India Today. ProQuest 1493503420. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  12. ↑ "CSF Official Website – Our Team". Central Square Foundation.
  13. ↑ "Economic and social reform with Ashish Dhawan – KPMG Global". KPMG. March 14, 2022. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Ashish Dhawan to raise Rs.400 crore for Ashoka University". Live Mint. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Sunil Amrith named the Dhawan Professor of History". YaleNews. April 20, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Forbes India – Ashish Dhawan: Next Gen Leader in Philanthropy". Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  17. ↑ "胡润百富 – www.hurun.net". Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
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