| Geeta Rao Gupta | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mumbai, India |
| Alma mater | Bangalore University, University of Delhi |
| Occupation | Senior Fellow, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |
Geeta Rao Gupta (born 1956 in Mumbai, India) is a leader on gender, women’s issues, and HIV and AIDS. She is frequently consulted on issues related to AIDS prevention and women’s vulnerability to HIV and is an advocate for women’s economic and social empowerment to fight disease, poverty and hunger. Rao Gupta is former president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). She began working with ICRW in 1988 as a consultant, researcher, and officer, and headed the private, non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. from 1997 through April 2010. She stepped down to join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a senior fellow.
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Rao Gupta grew up in Mumbai and Delhi, India, and received her education from the University of Delhi and Bangalore University (India). While working toward her advanced degrees in social psychology, she worked as a counselor at a drop-in center in New Delhi and lectured in the psychology departments of several universities. At the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Rao Gupta worked with a team to develop the first women’s studies curriculum for graduate students in India.[1]
In the mid-1980s, Rao Gupta moved to the United States and began working at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) in 1988. She has held a number of positions with ICRW, including consultant, researcher and vice-president. In the 1990s, Rao Gupta headed a ground-breaking, 15-country research program that identified the social and economic roots of women’s vulnerability to HIV infection. Rao Gupta became president of ICRW in 1996.
Rao Gupta currently serves as co-convener of the Social Drivers Working Group of aids2031, an international initiative commissioned by UNAIDS to chart a course for a global response to AIDS over the next twenty-five years. She also serves on the program boards of the Moriah Fund and the Nike Foundation. Rao Gupta served as co-chair of the U.N. Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Youth Employment and from 2002 to 2005, she co-chaired the U.N. Millennium Project’s Task Force on Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women. Rao Gupta was formerly a board member for the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and InterAction.[2]
Rao Gupta is often sought by the development community and media, and has been quoted by The Washington Post, The New York Times and USA Today, as well as other national and international news sources.[2]
Rao Gupta received a Ph.D. in social psychology from Bangalore University, an M. Phil in organizational behavior from the University of Delhi, and a master's in clinical of psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Delhi.[2]
Rao Gupta’s expertise is in gender mainstreaming, women’s health, HIV and AIDS, women’s economic empowerment, private sector roles in development, strategies to empower women and advance gender equality, and women and poverty.[2]