Standard Chartered Foundation announces Nalini Tarakeshwar as Global Head, Standard Chartered Foundation and Corporate Philanthropy. The appointment was made as the foundation scales its ambition to facilitate access to quality jobs and opportunities for young people in response to the growing youth employability gap, which increased to 12.4 per cent in 2025 and hits disadvantaged young people hardest.
Tarakeshwar will lead Standard Chartered’s corporate philanthropy agenda and the Foundation’s global strategy, which addresses barriers to employability and entrepreneurship through the development of programmes, partnerships and financing solutions that unlock opportunities for the youth. Drawing on over 20 years of experience including most recently as Deputy CEO, UBS Optimus Foundation, Tarakeshwar brings a wealth of experience to the role and will help expand the global impact of the foundation’s capital and resources.
Tanuj Kapilashrami, Chief Strategy and Talent Officer, Standard Chartered and Trustee, Standard Chartered Foundation, said, “Today’s world has the largest generation of young people in history, making them a critical driver of future growth and stability. Yet globally, one in five young people are not in employment, education or training. Corporate philanthropy has a critical role to play in addressing this challenge and through the foundation, we’ve till date enabled over 1,00,000 jobs, impacting over 7,00,000 lives. As we scale and leverage our role as a global ‘super-connector’ to deliver transformational outcomes across our markets, Nalini’s experience will be a catalyst for further impact.”
Commenting on her appointment, Nalini Tarakeshwar, said, “Standard Chartered is a powerful global bank and purpose-led brand. The foundation has already had a significant impact, enabling jobs for under-served young people, especially young women. We now have an opportunity to build on this success to achieve impact at scale, working with our networks across the business and others who are committed to this goal. I’m proud to join the foundation at this unique juncture to unlock opportunities that will help young people shape their own futures and generate an outsized impact on communities and markets globally.”
