Dr. R. Balasubramaniam (Dr. Balu) is a Member of NITI Aayog, Government of India, bringing over four decades of grassroots experience to national policymaking. A physician by training with a Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, he founded the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) in 1984, which today reaches over 3 million people through health, education, and community empowerment programs, and the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM) in 2011, a public policy think tank based in Karnataka, India.

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He previously served as Member, Human Resources at the Capacity Building Commission, Government of India and currently chairs the Social Stock Exchange Advisory Committee at Securities and Exchange Board of India. A former Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor at Cornell University, he has taught and advised on adaptive leadership, governance, and public policy in India and abroad.

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