About me
Poorvi has been in the development sector for almost 20 years and is passionate about Woman Empowerment, Equity and Education. Poorvi is the CEO of Katalyst India since 2015. Katalyst is an award winning NGO which started in 2007 and prepares young women for leadership roles, thereby creating a wider talent pool and helping bridge the gender divide. Prior to Katalyst, she was with The Akanksha Foundation for 10.5 years leading youth leadership programs, helping with capacity building for teachers and strategic discussions as part of the senior leadership team.
Poorvi received Iconic Women Director's Award under Naari Shakti by Mentor My Board in December, 2023. In 2023, she was also selected for the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives for Non-Profit Management Program at Harvard Campus in Boston on a 100% scholarship. There were participants from across the world. Poorvi has been honoured under 25 most influential women in India – 2017 by CEO magazine. Poorvi has been a speaker at various forums in India and overseas including Equal Leaders Summit by Conference Board, USA in December 2020. She was a panellist in the Global Women in STEM leadership Summit labelled “Design Your Future” held in Atlanta, USA in March 2018. In February 2023, Poorvi was invited to the Centre for Civil Society and Proctor & Gambles’s Shiksha Table Discussion on Women in STEM leading to a white paper on the same subject for the G20 Summit.
Before turning to the social sector, Poorvi was with Price Waterhouse LLP, NY and then with Indocean Venture Capital and IndAsia Fund Advisors, Bombay, one of the first venture capital firms in India. Poorvi has an MMS in Finance from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai and MBA in International Business from Rochester Institute of Technology, USA.
