Deepali Khanna

Khanna earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Delhi, and later attended the Humanitarian Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.⁠[1][2]

Khanna held leadership roles at several child-focused development organizations in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Eastern and Southern Africa, including UNICEF. At Plan International, she served first as country director for Vietnam and then as regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, joining the organization’s senior management team; she was responsible for program operations in 12 countries and regional strategic planning, led regional organizational change, built partnerships with governments and developed gender equality strategies.⁠[2][3][1][2][2]

The government of Vietnam awarded her the President’s Medal of Friendship in recognition of her advocacy for vulnerable and at-risk young people.⁠[2]

After leaving Plan International, Khanna became Director of Youth Learning at the MasterCard Foundation, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, responsible for a global grantmaking strategy covering more than 50 programs.⁠[1][2]

Khanna then joined the Rockefeller Foundation to manage Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD), the foundation’s flagship program in India. By her own account, in this role she coordinated the program’s activities and resources with the goal of providing affordable clean energy to more than one million people in India; the program focused mainly on India but also covered Myanmar and Africa.⁠[1][1][4]

As of June 2021, Khanna was managing director of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Asia regional office, responsible for the foundation’s policy, advocacy, grantmaking and strategic partnerships in Asia. In an interview with Energetica India that month, she discussed Smart Power India, an initiative the foundation supports in India that provides technical support to renewable energy mini-grid enterprises in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand and had helped build more than 400 operating mini-grids benefiting more than 300,000 people.⁠[1][1][1][1]

On October 1, 2024, the Rockefeller Foundation convened the three-day AsiaXchange 2024 in Bangkok on the theme of a systems approach to advancing an equitable green transition in Asia, attended by more than 250 stakeholders; the gathering also celebrated 60 years of partnership between the foundation and the Thailand International Cooperation Agency. Khanna, then vice president of the Asia regional office, gave the opening remarks, saying Asia had a unique opportunity to lead global climate action.⁠[5][5][5][5]

On February 25, 2025, the Rockefeller Foundation announced the opening of its redesigned and renovated Asia regional office in Bangkok, unveiled by chief operating officer Natalye Paquin and head of Asia Khanna. The foundation first established an office in Bangkok in 1964; Khanna said the new convening facilities would provide space for partners from all sectors to collaborate.⁠[6][6][6][6]

In October 2025, Khanna published an article reflecting on AsiaXchange 2025, held in Jakarta. The gathering brought together more than 1,000 leaders, funders, innovators and community representatives from across Asia to discuss how to put proven solutions in health, food and energy into practice.⁠[7][7]

As of October 2026, Khanna is senior vice president and head of Asia at the Rockefeller Foundation, leading the foundation’s Asia regional office and advancing its work in Asia through partnerships, innovative funding and thought leadership; she also serves as chair of the board of the Digital Green Foundation.⁠[8][7][7]

Within the G20 and G7 processes, Khanna led the foundation’s collaboration with India’s G20 presidency, served as co-chair of the G20 India B20 task force on Financing for Global Economic Recovery and co-chair of the G7 Japan Think7 task force on Development and Economic Prosperity, and during Brazil’s G20 presidency took part in two B20 task forces, on finance and infrastructure and on women, diversity and inclusion in business. She has written for Asian media outlets including Forbes Asia, The Straits Times and the Bangkok Post.⁠[9][9][9][9]

The Rockefeller Foundation: Official website: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[7]