The Policy School with Network Capital

In this podcast you will learn 

1. Mental models for building a meaningful second career 

2. Art of being a contrarian 

3. How to combine distinct strands of thought and create something unique 

4. Deep-dive into India's education challenge along with implementable ideas to bring about change 

5. Critical importance of human capital development 

6. Nuances of building a career in the development sector 

7. The difference between important and urgent

Ashish Dhawan is the Founder and CEO of Central Square Foundation (CSF). He worked for twenty years in the investment management business and ran one of India's leading private equity funds, ChrysCapital. In June 2012, he left his full time role at ChrysCapital to start CSF. Ashish is an M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard University and a dual bachelor's (B.S./ B.A.) holder with Magna Cum Laude honours from Yale University. He is on the India Advisory Board of Harvard and a member of Yale's Development Council.

Ashish serves on the board of several non-profits including Akanksha Foundation, 3.2.1 Education Foundation, Teach For India, Centre for Civil Society, Janaagraha and GiveLife. As Founder and CEO of CSF, Ashish hopes to bring a fresh impact-based approach to philanthropy in India. He was recently recognised as the NextGen Leader in Philanthropy by Forbes India.

Key insights and mental models:

1. Pivoting to unconventional and unchartered career paths

2. Understanding the governance consulting models and landscape in India

3. Unit and scale of change in the context of governance in India

Gaurav Goel is the Founder & CEO of Samagra | Transforming Governance, a mission-driven governance consulting firm. Gaurav holds a dual degree in Computer Science & Engineering from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. After graduating from IIM Calcutta, he joined McKinsey & Company as a Management Consultant where he worked across sectors and geographies, solving diverse corporate problem statements. While he was enjoying his stint at McKinsey, he knew that eventually he wanted to use his skills towards improving the lives of Indian citizens by engaging with the governance process. In 2012, he set up Samagra so that he could translate his passion into reality and create impact at scale. Samagra is currently driving 9 state-wide transformations across diverse domains, while also working with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and NITI Aayog at the Centre. Through its engagements, Samagra is impacting the lives of more than 65 million citizens. Gaurav's path-breaking efforts to tackle intractable governance challenges led him to be recognized in BusinessWorld’s 40 Under 40 list of changemakers in India in 2019.

In this episode you will learn the following:

1. Leveraging diplomacy to navigate through high-pressure scenarios.

2. The importance of maintaining diverse networks and nurturing old relationships.

3. Nuances of negotiating the non-negotiable.

4. Role of ingenuity, trust and commitment in politics.

An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a third-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan’s leadership of the organisation.

In this episode you will learn the following:

1. Building transferable skills - lessons from an author, diplomat and politican

2. Peacekeepking and negotiations in the Cold War era

3. The mental models required to work in an international, multi-cultural and complex environment like the UN.

An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a third-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan’s leadership of the organisation.

In his second episode of the exclusive multi-part Network Capital podcast, Dr. Tharoor reflects on his days in the UN. He shares anecdotes and learnings from his career as an international diplomat.

In this episode you will learn the following:

1.       The importance of conducting micro-experiments towards shaping a meaningful career

2.       The art of being a contrarian

3.       The power of multi-disciplinary learning and clear thinking

An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a third-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan's leadership of the organisation.

In the first episode of this exclusive multi-part Network Capital podcast, Dr. Tharoor shares how he followed his curiosity, defied conventional norms and chose to pursue a career in international relations.

In this podcast you will learn - 

1. How to choose a career in social sciences? 

2. What might politics without politicians look like 

3. Practical ways to make democracy more inclusive

Hélène Landemore is Associate Professor of Political Science, with Tenure. Her research and teaching interests include democratic theory, political epistemology, theories of justice, the philosophy of social sciences (particularly economics), constitutional processes and theories, and workplace democracy.

Her first book (in French) Hume. Probabilité et Choix Raisonnable (PUF: 2004) was a philosophical investigation of David Hume’s theory of decision-making. Her second book (in English) Democratic Reason won the Montreal Manuscript Workshop Award in 2011; the Elaine and David Spitz Prize in 2015; and the 2018 APSA “Ideas, Knowledge, and Politics” section book award. Hélène’s third book–Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the 21st Century (under contract with Princeton University Press)–develops a new paradigm of democracy in which the exercise of power is as little gated as possible, even as it depends on representative structures to make it possible. In this version of popular rule, power is equally open to all, as opposed to just those who happen to stand out in the eyes of others (as in electoral democracies). The book centrally defends the use of non-electoral yet democratic forms of representation, including “lottocratic,” “self-selected,” and “liquid” representation.

Hélène is also co-editor with Jon Elster of Collective Wisdom: Principles and Mechanisms (Cambridge University Press 2012), and is currently working on a new edited volume project on Digital Technology and Democratic Theory, together with Rob Reich and Lucy Bernholz at Stanford.

Miguel Angel Centeno was born in Cuba and by a miraculous set of adventures escaped to 

Spain and then landed up in the United States. He was raised by a single mom and spent most of his teenage years in housing projects.  With grit, relentless efforts and determination to escape poverty, Miguel graduated from Yale with scholarship. Among other degrees, he also got an MBA and worked in advertising for a while. He soon realized that the business world was not for him. He was far more inspired by deeper issues and abstract ideas. Today he is Vice Dean; Musgrave Professor of Sociology; Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University

In this riveting podcast you will 

1. Explore the nuances of privilege 

2. Understand the principles of building a meaningful career in social sciences

3. Learn what Marx and Adam Smith might say if they took a walk in the 21st century 

This is Dr. Centeno in his own words 

Born in Cuba.  Came to the US at 10 and lived in Erie PA with a single mom.  Got financial aid to Yale and then worked in business for several years as my mom became quite sick…… not sure what more!!

Academic Bio:

Miguel Centeno has published many articles, chapters, and books. His latest publications are War and Society (Polity 2016), Global Capitalism (Polity 2010), States in the Developing World (Cambridge UP, 2017) and State and Nation Making in the Iberian World (Cambridge UP , Vol 1, 2013; Vol. II 2018).   He is the founder of the Research Community on Global Systemic Risk funded by PIIRS from 2013 (http://risk.princeton.edu. He is also working on book on the sociology of discipline. In 2000, he founded the Princeton University Preparatory Program, which provides intensive supplemental training for lower income students in local high schools. (http://pupp.princeton.edu/) He currently serves as Vice-Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School.  From 2003 to 2007, he served as the founding Director of the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.  From 1997-2004 he also served as Head of Wilson College at Princeton. From 2012 to 2017 he served as Chair of the Sociology Department.

In this podcast you will learn: 

1. How to understand education inequity in India from a holistic lens 

2. How to work with different stakeholders in the education space 

3. How to carve out a meaningful career doing something you truly care about

As the Adhyayan Foundation CEO and founding team member, Anushri is responsible for creating the strategic vision for the organization, developing and overseeing implementation of programmes across 827 government schools in Goa and 5000+ schools in Delhi, building relationships with potential donors and partners, and overseeing the overall functioning of the organization.

She has been an educator for the past 10 years. Having completed a Master’s in Education from Columbia University, she has a wide range of experience in education. She developed and headed the education program at Sanctuary for Families in New York, working with the New York City Government on supporting survivors of gender violence become economically independent.

Having a keen interest in education in the context of violence, she has worked with refugees populations as well as students in areas of violence through her work with the International Rescue Committee and Global Nomads Group in New York. Anushri also coordinated the Working Group on Peace, Conflict and Education, an interdisciplinary research consortium at Columbia University in New York. She worked as a Teach for India Fellow in 2010, teaching grades 3 and 4 in an underserved community in Pune.

Anushri has been a Co-Chair for Human Rights and Education Colloquium: A collaborative project connecting scholars from Columbia University and New York University. She is the Co-Founder of Burma Connect, an Independent Student Group now known as Connecting Myanmar at the University of Hong Kong.

In this podcast you will learn:

1. Mental models for building a career across technology, finance and public policy 

2. Principles of institution building 

3. Understanding nuances of working in the government 

Arnab Kumar is Program Director at NITI Aayog, and drives NITI Aayog's strategy, policy and implementation initiatives in Artificial Intelligence, FinTech, Blockchain and Digital Economy. Arnab has contributed to India's Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (released in 2018) and has been driving the architecture of the proposed National Programme on AI. His key projects include Imaging BioBank for Cancer, India UK Healthcare AI Catalyst, Blockchain and IoT based Fertiliser Supply Chain solution. Arnab joined NITI Aayog as Founding Manager for Atal Innovation Mission, and developed strategy for AIM’s key initiatives including tinkering labs and early-stage technology fund, before setting up the Frontier Technologies practice.

An ex-investment banker, Arnab has worked for Deutsche Bank’s New York, Hong Kong and Singapore offices and has raised more than USD20bn in M&A, equity and debt transactions, primarily in FinTech, Financial Institutions and Technology deals. Arnab has also previously led product teams across 3 global locations for Oracle. Arnab is an alumnus of Indian School of Business, Columbia Business School, and Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Chevening CRISP Fellow (2019).

In this podcast you can expect to learn the following:

1.Art of following your curiosity

2.Core challenges plaguing the policy landscape

3.Shaping meaningful careers in public policy

Arunabha Ghosh is a public policy professional, adviser, author, columnist, and institution builder. As the founder-CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, since 2010, he has led CEEW to the top ranks as one of South Asia’s leading policy research institutions (six years in a row); and among the world’s 20 best climate think-tanks in 2016. He has been actively involved in the design of the International Solar Alliance since inception. He conceptualized and is founding board member of the Clean Energy Access Network (CLEAN). With experience in 45 countries, he previously worked at Princeton, Oxford, UNDP (New York), and WTO (Geneva). In 2018, the UN Secretary-General nominated him to the UN’s Committee for Development Policy. In 2018, the Government of India appointed him as a member of the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority for the National Capital Region. His 2019 TED Talk on air quality (Mission 80-80-80) crossed 100,000 views within three weeks of release.

He is the co-author/editor of four books: The Palgrave Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy (2016); Energizing India: Towards a Resilient and Equitable Energy System (SAGE, 2016); Human Development and Global Institutions (Routledge, 2016); and Climate Change: A Risk Assessment (FCO, 2015).