Ms. Rajashree says that the Foundation focuses on 3 main areas – Education, Healthcare and Livelihood; shares her inputs on ‘Impact-based’ CSR program design and her experience  of assessing impacts of CSR/philanthropic projects, and  how partnerships between NGOs and corporates can be leveraged for better and effective social impacts; talks about challenges faced by her in training especially in education, and skill development and much more.

About Ms. Rajashree Natarajan- Chief Executive Officer, Cognizant Foundation

Rajashree is an IT industry veteran with over 28 years of global experience. In her current role as Chief Executive Officer for Cognizant Foundation, she contributes towards evolving an overarching charter for the Foundation, defining CSR strategy and goals, managing operations, communication and relationship with a broad set of stakeholders. In her two dozen years of service in the IT Industry, she has played diverse leadership roles driving strategic and transformational initiatives. As global head of Process and Platforms in Cognizant, she was responsible for developing cutting edge technology solutions and incubating new product ventures that support global delivery. She is a passionate learner, trainer & speaker in industry forums. She mentors several startups and has facilitated many interactive workshops for designing lean process and creative technology solutions for complex business and social needs. She is passionate about spending time with non-profit organizations and social enterprises, actively contributing to the field of education. She is the managing trustee of a charitable trust and co-founder for a bilingual reading and learning program that caters to the underprivileged children. Rajashree obtained her master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and is a Six Sigma Black Belt.

Impact-Talk is a series of views and interviews of CSR heads, impact leaders and change-makers, addressing development challenges in India. If you have an impact-maker in your network, please suggest/share details at csr@ngobox.org