Asheesh Advani is the CEO of Junior Achievement Worldwide.
Asheesh is a lifelong social innovator with a passion for entrepreneurship. Prior to joining JA, he started his career as a consultant at Monitor Company and at the World Bank, where he conducted research on industrial clusters as a source of entrepreneurship and innovation in promoting economic growth. Later on, he served as CEO of Covestor and founded CircleLending, which pioneered the business of managing peer-to-peer loans within social networks and was acquired by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group in 2007.
Asheesh is also currently Board Chair of Prosperity Now, he is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and is also actively involved in the World Economic Forum as a member of the Civil Society Advisory Council and the Global Agenda Council for the Future of Education, Gender, and Work.
Outside of his entrepreneurial activities, Asheesh has served as a corporate executive, magazine columnist, author of business books, active member of non-profit boards related to entrepreneurship education and financial capability, and occasional commentator in media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and The New York Times.
He holds a BS.c in Economics & Finance from The Wharton School and an M.S.c. and D. Phil. in Economics for Development and Management from Oxford University.