Kavita Ramdas

Kavita Ramdas

Kavita Ramdas is a globally recognized advocate for gender equity and justice. She is an inspirational speaker and thought commentator on the challenges facing philanthropy and civil society as they seek to advance equitable and sustainable development and gender and racial equity. As the principal of KNR Sisters, she provides high level consulting advice and guidance on initiatives to defend democracy and protect human rights both within the US and across the globe. In 2024, she was named a Richard von Weisäcker Fellow of the Robert Bosch Academy, in Berlin, Germany. She served as Activist in Residence for the Global Fund for Women in 2023. During her tenure as Director of the Women’s Rights Program at the Open Society Foundations (OSF), the foundation made its largest ever investment in gender justice with a $100 million commitment in support of the Generation Equality Forum in July 2021.

Kavita previously served as strategic advisor to MADRE, a global women’s rights organization and as a senior advisor to the 2023 Independent Review of the United Nation’s capacity to advance Gender Equality.  As Senior Advisor on Global Strategy at the Ford Foundation, she supported President Darren Walker in developing an intersectional equity approach to global philanthropic activities. Prior to that, as Regional Director, she led the foundation’s work in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, building partnerships with local leaders to address challenges facing civil society. During her tenure as President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, the foundation grew exponentially to become the world’s largest public foundation for women’s rights. The Global Fund supported activists in more than 170 countries providing access to capital that fueled innovation and feminist movements. Kavita’s global experience is complemented with significant work on addressing issues of gender, racial, and economic justice in the United States.

Her academic experience includes serving as a visiting scholar and lecturer/visiting professor at Georgetown University, Stanford University, and Princeton University. At Stanford, she founded the Program on Social Entrepreneurship SEERS, where grassroots activists connected with philanthropy, academia and the private sector. She previously served on the boards of the Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and was chair of the board of Planned Parenthood Global.  She currently serves on the boards of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN); Visualizing Palestine; Grist, a non-profit focused on climate journalism; and the Global Greengrants Fund, a public foundation supporting grassroots climate solutions.

Kavita was born in India and educated at Delhi University, Mount Holyoke College, and Princeton University. Her interests include yoga, hiking, and poetry. She and her partner, Zulfiqar Ahmad, a writer, live in Inwood, Manhattan and walk daily in the last old growth forest of the island. They are parents to a daughter, Mira Ahmad Prioleau, who lives and works in Santa Cruz, CA.