Roopa Kudva, 

In January, Omidyar Network India (OMI) spun out from Omidyar Network, funded by the philanthropic capital of Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, and his wife Pam, to become an autonomous organisation. Kudva, who helmed this exercise, says it was done with a view to harnessing local expertise in maximising the investment firm’s social impact in India. The autonomy gives OMI greater independence over decision-making, allows it to look at new areas of investment to tackle some of India’s unique problems, and redefines the way it measures the impact of its work here. That apart, through OMI, she has made large grant commitments totalling $3.3 million to various institutions and nonprofit organisations for pioneering work in areas such as property rights and cutting-edge skills. Besides, OMI’s investee companies such as 1mg, Scripbox, and Bounce received follow-on funding over the last 14 months. She serves on the boards of Infosys, Tata AIA Life Insurance, and the governing council of IIM Ahmedabad; in January, she was invited to join the board of Nestlé India.