Staff

Varun Mukerji

Country Director

Varun is responsible for leading Amani Institute’s work in India, our base for supporting change makers across Asia. He brings vision, humor, and entrepreneurial grit into our work of developing individuals and organizations who lead social impact. Passionate about purpose-driven work, the intersection of technology & society, news/media literacy, and behavioral economics, he finds home in strategy & planning, building teams that thrive, and forging win-win partnerships. His vision for Amani Institute in India is to support the organizations and individuals we work with to be great leaders, innovators, and team players; while enabling the extended social sector ecosystem to positively, collaboratively, and sustainably impact the world.

He has worked across different sectors such as events, public relations, copywriting, marketing, design, and intercultural training, before formally switching to the world of social impact. In 2017, he co-founded Reach, a company to support social sector organizations with their program design, monitoring & evaluation, and impact measurement. The company also launched Besides, an initiative to build awareness and nuance towards critical yet polarizing information, and crowdfunded Mantri Cards, a top-trump card game on the members of parliament in India. Varun also volunteered for five years as City Leader for Sofar Sounds in Pune.

Through his experience working with stakeholders across the spectrum of the social and private sector, he is sensitive to the operational and managerial issues, challenges, and motivations of gig workers, project managers, and organization heads. This experience, along with his background as a social entrepreneur, greatly informs his role at Amani Institute. Parallel to work, when he’s not watching or playing basketball, Varun can be found devouring long-form articles or podcasts on business & technology trends, science communication, social psychology, history, political ideology, comedy, and the internet and new media.