Balakrishnan ("Bala") Venkatachalam is President & COO of Pratham International, where he leads its work — partnering with governments, donors, and philanthropies to scale evidence-based foundational learning and youth livelihoods programs across low- and middle-income countries, increasingly through technology and AI.
Over 25 years, Bala has led and scaled high-impact organizations across the U.S., India and other emerging markets. He previously served as Executive Director of Pratham USA, transforming it into a fundraising and engagement platform. Earlier, he held roles at Innovations for Poverty Action, Monitor Group, and KPMG, and co-founded a mobile technology startup focused on field data in low-resource settings.
Bala holds an MBA from INSEAD, is a Chartered Accountant, and serves on boards in global education and the environment