Dr. Anouska Bhattacharyya

Dr. Anouska Bhattacharyya is a powerhouse for equity, bringing almost 2 decades of expertise in nonprofit leadership, strategy, and change management. A lifelong learner, she believes everyone has the capacity for change and that difference does not denote hierarchy. Currently, Anouska is the Vice President for Programs at YW Boston, a feminist anti-racist organization committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Anouska was the director of Harvard’s international program, managing incoming students’ immigration status, funding, and curriculum development against a backdrop of increasing state violence and xenophobia. She facilitated the overhaul of the college’s core curriculum and empowered the administrative and academic communities to collaborate on advancing policy and shift culture. They were heavily involved in rebooting the University of Pennsylvania’s MSTP: a program designed to physician-scientist community in Philadelphia and beyond. They coach, counsel, and advise across sectors to build individual leadership and collective capacity.

A highly requested and charismatic speaker, Anouska’s work takes them  to the UK, India, Europe, the US and allied territories to share their vision on topics as diverse as decolonizing global health, the history of madness, queering the diaspora, and how imperialism built the gin and tonic. Anouska has a Ph.D. from Harvard, as well as a Masters and B.A. (Hons) from Cambridge University in the UK.

As well as her professional commitments, Anouska is a keen dancer, an avid plant propagator, and a karaoke legend.