Aakanksha spent her early years in investment banking and strategy consulting, before transitioning into the development sector ten years ago. She is currently the CEO at ACT Grants, where she oversees ACT's venture-style grants across Education, Environment, Health and Women verticals. ACT also serves as a platform that helps catalyse programs and collectives to further deepen and accelerate their portfolio's progress by bringing together startups, NGOs, public and private sector organizations. Prior to ACT, she led strategy and program design as the Chief Program Officer at Teach For India. 

Before moving into the impact sector, she supported financial sector clients at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). She started her career in mortgage backed securities and loan portfolio strategy at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers. It is this diverse set of experiences that shapes Aakanksha's strong belief in the need for cross-sectoral collaboration in solving India's biggest social challenges in the coming decade.

Aakanksha was an F.C. Austin Scholar at the Kellogg School of Management where she received her MBA, and graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a double bachelors degree in Mathematics and Economics.