Dr. Akhil Shahani is the Managing Director of The Shahani Group, which runs a franchised range of colleges in areas like business, media, real estate, finance and others. His colleges incorporate global industry-oriented education systems that make their graduates truly employable. Additionally, he runs the ed-tech platform Ask.Careers and recruitment firm, Ask Talent Services.

He is also a Venture Partner in Kaizenvest, which is India’s first private equity fund focused solely on the education sector. In addition, Akhil serves as the Chairman of Global Discovery Schools, which are a franchised chain of 14 innovative schools.

Akhil’s work in the non-profit space is also extensive, he is on the advisory board of Unltd India & IDOBRO, which are two incubators supporting social entrepreneurs. He is the Director of the SAGE Foundation & Trustee of The Shahani Trust, which both have a range of charitable initiatives in education. Akhil sits on the board of 28 iconic colleges in Mumbai.

He has completed his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Chicago & his Doctorate in Education (Ed.D) from the University of Liverpool, where his thesis is in the area of Student Employability.

Akhil is the recipient of many awards for his work in education like the Jamnalal Bajaj Award, Bharat Shiromani Award, PIMR Outstanding Educationist Award, Rex Karamveer Chakra Gold Award, the Bharat Gaurav Award and the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award among others. He is a regular speaker at conferences and has been extensively profiled in the media.