Rohini Nilekani
Rohini Nilekani is the Founder-Chairperson of Arghyam, a foundation she set up with a private endowment, to work on water and sanitation issues in India. She is also Founder-Chairperson of Pratham Books, a charitable trust which seeks to put "A book in every child's hand." An ex-journalist, author and philanthropist, Rohini has been deeply involved with development issues and is currently a member of the Audit Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. She sits on the Boards of many non-profits, notably ATREE (the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment) and Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services. Rohini has authored a novel – “Stillborn” - and also a non–fiction account of dialogues she moderated between social and corporate leaders called "Uncommon Ground".

A former journalist and author, Nilekani, has been an active philanthropist for more than a decade having donated over $40 million but doing much more than writing checks. In 2001 she founded Arghyam, a non-profit that focuses on water and sanitation issues and is funded by her personal endowment. It has so far given grants to projects in 22 states.