Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness: U.S. Initiatives for Women’s Economic Advancement in South Asia

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 | 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Discussion | Zoom

Speaker: Radhika Prabhu, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State

This armchair discussion will outline U.S. foreign policy priorities advancing women’s economic empowerment in South Asia while highlighting U.S. government initiatives supporting women’s entrepreneurship and workforce participation in the region: the U.S.-Pakistan Women’s Council and U.S.-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment.

Radhika leads the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs efforts to promote policies and diplomatic outreach to advance inclusive and equitable growth in economies across the  South and Central Asian region.  In this position, she also serves as Executive Director of the U.S.-India Alliance for Women’s Economic Empowerment and U.S.-Pakistan Women’s Council, public-private partnerships accelerating women’s economic advancement in India and Pakistan respectively. Radhika previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor and as a Special Assistant in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues at the State Department. Her work resulted in the Department’s first policies to promote women’s economic empowerment in major trade agreements, strategic dialogues, and public-private partnerships in both South Asia and Iraq.  Radhika has also held positions at the World Bank, United Nations Development Program and the Inter-American Development Bank, focusing on innovation, climate change and small and medium enterprise development. Radhika is a Term Member on the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2019, she was named a 2019 AAPI American National Security & Foreign Policy Next Generation Leader by New America and the Diversity in National Security Network. She is the recipient of the Department’s Superior Honor Award and several Meritorious Honor Awards. Radhika holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Boston College.

Please visit asia.stanford.edu/.../entrepreneurship-and-competitiveness-u-s-initiatives-for-womens-economic-advancement-in-south-asia for more details.