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Co-Founder PAFI

Advisor, Independent Director, Ombudsperson, Professor of Practice

Ajay Khanna

Ajay is a leader in Strategy, Public Policy & Public Affairs, Advocacy and Stakeholder Engagement, with a demonstrated history of working across sectors in India, including social economy. A lawyer by education, he is an experienced Strategic Advisor, Board Member , Ombudsperson & Professor of Practice with a career span of over 45 years. With strong global connections, he focuses on ethical and value-based leadership and is a regular contributor & speaker on topical subjects in major newspapers & at various universities. He has been a member of several high-level Government delegations, committees and task forces.

He is Co-Founder of Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI).PAFI aims at aligning business, society and government on long term priorities; fostering trust across all stakeholders; collaboratively developing smart and relevant policies, proposals and processes that foster innovation and rely on evidence-based research and promotes capacity building to navigate change within the context and complexity of India. He is Chairman of PAFI’s flagship Annual Forum since its inception in 2014.

He is Group Strategic Advisor & Ombudsperson of Jubilant Bhartia Group since 2009. As an Ombudsperson, he acts as an impartial, confidential and independent resource to help stakeholders resolve workplace or business-related issues and build a corporate culture based on values, ethics and compliance.

He is a Director on the Board of Aakash Educational Services Limited, a leading educational institution in India that provides comprehensive test preparatory coaching services to students preparing for medical & engineering entrance exams, school/board exams, competitive scholarship exams.

Ajay is an expert member of the Grievances Redressal Board (GRB) of Digital Publisher Content Grievances Council, an officially recognized, independent self-regulatory body for online curated content providers (OCCPs). It has been set up under the aegis of Internet and Mobile Association of India.

He is also an Advisor to Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). Established in 2004, it is a not-for-profit industry body and India’s only organization representing the digital services industry with over 500 Indian and multinational corporations as its members, which include established companies in diverse sectors of the digital ecosystem as well as start-ups.

Ajay is Senior Advisor - India with Urban Land Institute (ULI) which is a preeminent thought leader in India’s built environment. By leveraging research and education initiatives, ULI India aims to bring ULI’s global mission to explore and promote the transformative impact of cross-disciplinary dialogue on Indian urban landscape.

Ajay is a Professor of Practice with Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP). Founded on the commitment to world-class faculty, extensive industry linkages and innovative approach towards design and management of policy, ISPP aims to transform the art of policymaking. He is Senior Advisor with The Convergence Foundation, dedicated to building foundations in strategic areas of development in India.

He has been associated with the World Economic Forum for over three decades & was the Vice Chair of its Regional Strategy Group (RSG). He is a regular participant at its annual meeting in Davos for over 35 years & leads the social entrepreneur of the year award initiative of the Schwab foundation & Jubilant Bhartia Foundation in India since its inception in 2009. He is currently a member of the WEF - Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship.

He is also a Global Advisor to the Catalyst 2030 - a global movement & a network of leading social entrepreneurs & innovators, academics and funders who believe in collective action & bold, new strategies to achieve the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Catalyst 2030 - NAISE (National Association of Innovators & Social Entrepreneurs) for India. He is a member of Advisory Board of SaveLife Foundation, Pahle India foundation & a founding member of International Advisory Board of the Luxury Venture Group (LVG), Geneva.

Ajay is founding Chief Executive Officer (2002-2006) of India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a joint initiative of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India and CII, a unique public private Partnership initiative to Promote, Project & Position India’s growth story globally. IBEF, under his leadership, led the “India Everywhere” campaign at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2006, amongst several other high profile global initiatives. He was Partner with Accenture India (2008-2009) & spent twenty-seven years with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as its deputy director general & held several national & a global positions from 1981 to 2008.

Ajay has a Degree in Law from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi and is an alumni of the Shriram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. He is married to Renu, a lawyer and a social worker. Their children - Dr Surbhi and Dr Ankur are both medical practitioners in the USA. He shunts between New Delhi & USA.