Asheesh Advani

Helping young people in marginalized communities, Asheesh Advani, through JA Worldwide, has helped over 12 million young people annually gain access to training in entrepreneurship, financial literacy and career readiness. 

Advani is the President and CEO of JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement Worldwide), one of the largest social impact networks in the world dedicated to preparing youth for employment and entrepreneurship. JA serves over 12 million young people per year in 115 countries delivering hands-on experiential learning programs in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship education.

During his tenure, the organization has been recognized as one of the top 10 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the world in annual rankings by NGO Advisor, and recently been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2021, Advani received The Tony Hsieh Award for leadership through empowerment.

He is a successful social innovator having led two disruptive businesses from startup to acquisition, both of which reduced the cost of accessing capital for entrepreneurs and investors. 

Advani’s entrepreneurial endeavors have been chronicled in case studies at Harvard Business School and Babson College. He has had the privilege of speaking on the topic of entrepreneurship and advocating its connection to economic empowerment and peace at the United Nations, G20 meetings and the World Economic Forum’s annual meetings in Davos. Advani is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Oxford University.