Speaker

Founder, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Member,
Samhita Social Ventures

Priya is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Member at Samhita Social Ventures, a social sector consulting firm that collaborates with companies, government, and social organizations to strategize and implement effective social impact initiatives and create a ‘better normal’ for India’s most vulnerable communities and environments. Prior to this, Priya co-founded The Spark Group, an education company that delivered affordable education to low-income communities.

At Spark, Priya helped define strategy, created the business plan and was also instrumental in raising funds from IFMR Trust.  She has been an Advisor in the National Social Entrepreneurship Forum since the year 2010. Previously, she has worked with the International Finance Corporation, the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Arthur Andersen. At MIT, Priya was part of two student-led start-ups – Aerovax, a company that created safe, inhalable aerosol vaccines that could be delivered without the use of needles and Kalpataru, a company that delivered innovative, low-cost technology to increase the efficiency of microfinance institutions.

Kalpataru’s pilot was tested with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and was presented to Nobel laureate, Dr Muhammad Yunus. Both social enterprises won several awards at MIT. She started her career in Accounting at Arthur Andersen in Mumbai. Her career is an interesting fusion of on-the-ground grassroots solutions through enterprise and strategic consulting experience with established companies, a perfect combination for understanding and implementing CSR projects across the board.

Priya has a Masters in Economics from Yale University, USA, a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA and a Masters in Commerce from Mumbai University where she stood first in the entire graduating class. https://www.linkedin.com/in/priya-naik-1893791b