Rakesh Rajani, Board Chair, is the Vice President of Programs at Co-Impact, a philanthropic platform to support system change investments in the global south and a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development. Until May 2018 he served as the Director of Civic Engagement and Government program at the Ford Foundation in New York, responsible for U.S. and global work on voting rights, democratic participation, taxes and budgets, and protecting civic space. From 2008 to 2014 he founded and served as the Head of Twaweza, an East African organization that promotes citizen agency, open government, and basic education. He is also a founding member and past co-chair of the Open Government Partnership, which involves 75 countries covering more than two billion people. From 2001 to 2007 Rakesh served as the founding executive director of HakiElimu, Tanzania’s leading citizen engagement and education advocacy organization. He has also played key roles in establishing the Foundation for Civil Society, the Tanzania Media Fund, Policy Forum and other civil society platforms in Tanzania. He has consulted on issues related to education, human rights and governance for Google.org, the Hewlett Foundation, Hivos and UNICEF, among others. Rakesh serves on several national and international boards and was a fellow of Harvard University from 1998 to 2013. He has written and edited over 400 papers and popular publications in English and Swahili. Rakesh holds a master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and English and American literature from Brandeis University, where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.