Charu Adesnik

Charu Adesnik leads the economic empowerment investment portfolio for Cisco Public Benefit Investment and the Cisco Foundation, bringing more than 15 years of experience in socio-economic development experience to Cisco’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts. Cisco’s approach is to invest in nonprofit organizations that develop technology-based solutions to support underserved populations, with the potential for replication, scale, and sustainability.

Charu began her career in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, where she provided policy advice to national governments and led technical assistance programs in areas of economic and financial sector development. Prior to joining Cisco, she was part of the management team of the financial sector development practice in the Emerging Markets Group of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. There, she provided technical assistance on client engagements, managed diverse project teams, and oversaw relationships with key corporate and public sector clients in more than 20 developing countries around the world.