Rakesh Rajani

Rakesh Rajani is the President of JustSystems, which seeks to strengthen support infrastructure in the Global South to make the public sector just, inclusive, and effective. He brings 25 years of experience in starting and running civil society organizations (CSOs) and 9 years in philanthropy. 

Rakesh served as the first VP of Programs at Co-Impact, and Director of Civic Engagement and Government at the Ford Foundation in New York. He founded and ran Twaweza East Africa, an organization that advances citizen agency and open government, and established Uwezo, Africa’s largest program to assess basic literacy and numeracy. He also co-founded and led HakiElimu, Tanzania’s leading citizen engagement and education advocacy organization, as well as the now-defunct Kuleana Center for Children’s Rights.

Rakesh is a founding member and past co-chair of the Open Government Partnership and serves on several non-profit boards. He presently lives in New York with his independently minded children and wife, and is reportedly a capable househusband, dhobi, and cleaner.