Ankur Vora

As chief strategy officer, Ankur Vora serves as a principal advisor to the co-chairs, chief executive officer and Executive Leadership Team on the foundation’s overall strategic opportunities, risks, and tradeoffs. He leads the Strategy Office, which is responsible for enabling the highest and best use of the our resources - co-chair time, reputation, people, and dollars - to accelerate the foundation’s impact.

Ankur is a thought partner who pushes innovative thinking and brings an outlook of positivity and optimism. He strives to bring an external perspective and insight to support longer term strategic planning. As CSO, Ankur leads a community of practice for foundation deputy directors of Strategy, Planning, and Management to develop organizational norms that optimize the implementation of strategies and improve coordination and alignment across teams.

Ankur joined the foundation in 2013 to lead the foundation’s strategy team. Prior to that, he was the director of programs at The Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) in London where he oversaw a cross-cutting portfolio of programs focused on health, nutrition, education, and climate change across Africa and South Asia. Before CIFF, he served as principal at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he focused on healthcare, financial services, and social impact projects. Ankur was also a lecturer of Economics at the University of Chicago, and worked briefly at Goldman Sachs, the Industrial Development Bank of India, and the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in India.

Ankur grew up in India watching his parents donate most of their time, energy, and money to help others. This upbringing and mentality has been foundational to Ankur’s perspectives and purpose. With the fundamental belief that the world can be a lot better, Ankur fights the solvable injustices of our time with IQ, EQ, and a mindset to win. He holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Chicago, along with a Master of Science in Economics and bachelor’s in Engineering, Computer Science from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani.