Anita Rajan is the Chief Operating Officer of Tata STRIVE and Vice President, Tata Sustainability Group since 2015. Tata STRIVE is a Skills Building initiative of the Tata Group managed under a charitable Trust called Tata Community Initiatives Trust.
Skill Development of millions of Indian youth especially from the disadvantaged communities is key for economic prosperity and prevention of social disaster. Tata STRIVE has created multiple solutions to deliver high quality training, relevant to youth, in a scalable model targeted at the bottom of pyramid. The innovation is the creation of a choreographed training value chain from admissions to placements using unique methodology, pedagogy and technology. Over 200,000 youth have experienced Tata STRIVE with over 30,000 having been linked to jobs. In a short span of 3 years Tata STRIVE as established itself as a leader in the Skill Development sector in India.
Anita was deeply involved with the Indian National Skilling Ecosystem during its formative years having worked with the Advisor to Prime Minister on Skill Development as his Chief of Staff and later with the Chairman, National Skill Development Corporation. Anita has over twenty-five years of diverse experience in the education and management sectors. She has been with the Tata Group for 16 years, prior to Tata STRIVE she was with Tata Consultancy Services for 13 years. Anita is an active member of Industry bodies, she is the Co-chair of CII CSR committee (Western Region) and an active representative of Industry as a speaker at seminars in India and overseas.
In Tata Consultancy Services, Anita was Head of the CEO’s Office and worked closely in supporting the CEO on numerous strategic initiatives of the company. Prior to Tata Consultancy Services she was head of Research and Training at Schoolnet India, an e-education company. Transitioning after being an Educator for 10 years, her first job in the corporate world was with advertising firm Lintas in advertising research to understand consumer mindsets.
Her academic credentials include an MBA in Marketing from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, she is an alumnus of the prestigious St Stephens College, Delhi University where she earned a BA Maths Honours degree. She also holds a Bachelors in Education from Mumbai University.