Rajiv Vinnakota

Raj Vinnakota is the president of the Institute for Citizens & Scholars (C&S), which is a leading cross-partisan organization that focuses on a truly holistic approach to developing effective, lifelong citizens. To save our democracy now and strengthen it for the long haul, C&S cultivates talent, ideas, and networks so that Americans everywhere are well-informed, productively engaged for the common good, and hopeful about democracy. We focus mostly on young people under the age of 24. But with no time to lose, we also work with adult civic leaders, academics, and opinion shapers to sustain a functioning civic society. Raj has had significant leadership roles at the Aspen Institute, Princeton University (as a trustee and national chair of its Annual Giving operations) and an 18-year role as co-founder and CEO of the nation’s only network of college-preparatory, urban boarding schools for underserved children, the SEED Schools.