Swati Mehta

India

Swati Mehta is from India, and has lived in its capital city Delhi for most of her life. She is 30 years old. Born and raised in a middle-class family with finite resources, she always tried to make most of each opportunity. She studied economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi, and completedher masters in development management to pursue a career in the social sector.

Ever since she has worked as a researcher and technical advisor on projects to improve access to affordable financial services for the low-income unbanked population.This has taken her around the world interacting with people from rural villages of India and Philippines, to urban slums of Nairobi and her own home city Delhi. In the course, she witnessed different manifestations of lack of access to equal opportunities, be it education, health, employment, or access to finance.

Sheis passionate about ideas that incorporate approaches for integrated development of low-income households, position women and youth in the lead to bring change, and leverage the power of community networks. She strongly believes that the idea of development in the modern world is misplaced, and dreams of a world which could balance on economic, social, and environmental well-being. She is an avid traveler, loves to cycle to work and lead a life that is as minimal as possible.