Megha is President of the Desai Foundation, a public non-profit that elevates the health, livelihood and menstrual equity of women and children through community programs in rural India. Prior to her work in impact and community development, Desai spent 15+ years in traditional advertising at some of the most prestigious firms in the world. Her work has been awarded five Cannes Lions, along with several other distinguished awards, and was a pioneer in the branded entertainment space. She also founded Marketing. Strategy. Dharma, a strategic branding firm working with brands that wanted to integrate social responsibility into their businesses. These brands included HP, Coca-Cola, NPR, ONE.ORG, 1 Hotels, award-winning musicians, and more.
Desai became involved in the Desai Foundation in 2010 – then a small family foundation. She helped to transform the organization’s mission, work, and message leading to its pivot into a robust public programmatic organization. Under her leadership, the Desai Foundation has grown from working in 250 villages in 1 State to over 3,500 villages across 8 States.
Desai Foundation focuses on sustainable development with programs focused on livelihood paired with entrepreneurship, health camps, and the most comprehensive menstrual equity program in India, called Asani Sanitary Napkins. The organization, to date, has impacted over 8 million lives in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Their work has been awarded prestigious awards including CSR Universe’s India’s Top 20 Most Trusted NGOs and was highlighted at the 2022 & 2023 Clinton Global Initiative Meeting. In 2023 Secretary Hillary R. Clinton visited the programming of the Desai Foundation in India, celebrating their innovative approach to empowering women. She also pioneered ground breaking events across the U.S. but especially in New York City, where the Desai Foundation launched the first public Diwali party, Diwali on the Hudson, which was recently featured on ABC’s Good Morning America!
Desai is currently on the board of directors for TIE-Boston (a non-profit focused on fostering entrepreneurships), Take Two Media Initiative (a media literacy non-profit.) She also sits on the advisory boards of several start-ups and non-profits, her current favorite is Spicewell. She is something of a curator of people, content, and experiences.
She is also a contributor to The Boston Globe, MSNBC, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Thrive, and Entrepreneur Magazine and has delivered a TEDx Talk featured on TED.com.
Megha holds a B.A. in Economics from Barnard College of Columbia University. She attended Stanford Business School’s Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship.
Megha is a lifelong singer and performs with her band, Cobalt Collective, and the Resistance Revival Chorus (Righteous Babe Records). They have performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, The Newport Folk Festival, and more with musicians like Philip Glass, Natalie Merchant, Allison Russell, Patti Smith, Bon Iver, Angelique Kojo, Falu, Chaka Khan and more! Raised in Boston, she channels her New England upbringing as a New England Patriots fan. Megha enjoys cooking, podcasts and her nephews.