Rajiv Subhash Joshi is an economist, community organizer, and catalyst for business transformation and social change. As the Founder of Bridging Ventures, he is pioneering a new approach to drive radical collaboration in service of a regenerative future for all.
Rajiv is currently the Associate Dean for Climate Action at The Climate School at Columbia University in New York. He joined The B Team at its inception in 2012, serving as the organization’s CEO and first Managing Director until 2019. In that role, he led the Executive Team as part of a Collective Partnership, working closely with Co-Founders Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz to redefine the role of business in society. Collaborating with a global group of committed leaders, advisors, and supporters, he advanced principles of responsible tax practice and drove corporate ownership transparency to combat illicit capital flows. In 2014, as a founding Board Member of the We Mean Business coalition, he supported efforts to mobilize corporate leadership and secure a universal commitment to phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement.
In 2019, Rajiv was appointed as an Executive-in-Residence at Oxford University’s Säid Business School, where he explored the future of corporations, investigated innovative educational models, and helped businesses address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. That same year, he was commissioned by Christiana Figueres, Chief Architect of the Paris Climate Agreement and Convenor of the Mission 2020 Campaign, to serve as Lead Author of the Decisive Decade Inquiry into the Future of Climate Action, titled: “Organizing Climate Action: Catalytic Collaboration for Systemic Change.”
Before joining The B Team, Rajiv was Executive Director of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), the world’s largest civil society alliance working to end poverty and inequality. GCAP was launched in 2005 by Nelson Mandela, Kumi Naidoo, and other civic leaders. Rajiv also served as a Trustee of Oxfam Great Britain and a Board Member of CIVICUS, based in Johannesburg. As part of the anti-poverty movement, he co-chaired the UN-Civil Society Steering Group for the World We Want initiative, playing a pivotal role in designing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This built on his earlier work with the UN Millennium Campaign, established by Kofi Annan in 2000.
Rajiv earned a Bachelor of Arts with First-Class Honors in Economics from Strathclyde University Business School, where he received the Mahbub ul Haq Prize for Development Economics in 2008. After completing his degree, he worked as a Senior Consultant at Capgemini. In 2011, he completed a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration (MPA) at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he is also a part-time Research Scholar.
In 2008, Rajiv was appointed by the UK Government to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, where he helped strengthen community relations, building on his experience with race relations, community policing, equal opportunity, and youth participation across Scotland, the UK, the EU, and the Commonwealth. He also served as an advisor to the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People and as a member of the Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance.
From 2005 to 2007, Rajiv was twice elected Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament and served as Vice-Chair of Young Scot. He successfully campaigned to introduce transport subsidies and abolish tuition fees, and he worked closely with the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) to promote financial literacy and provide access to banking services for young people aged 16–18. He continues to serve as a Director of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy, a Council Member of the International Anti-Corruption Convention (IACC), and a Judge for the Thomson Reuters “Stop Slavery Enterprise Award.”
Rajiv originates from Gujarat, India, and Kisumu, Kenya, and was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland. He currently divides his time between the UK and the US, where he lives with his wife, Shalini, and their son, Avi.
