Dhivya Venkataraman
Dhivya is a proud daughter of immigrants, a mother of two, a resident of
Washington, D.C., and a member of a large Indian family. With over 20 years of
experience supporting education nonprofits, she has dedicated her career to helping
organizations deepen their impact, strengthen their internal capabilities, and overcome
strategic and talent-related challenges. Her approach to organizational capacity-building
focuses on designing initiatives that center on marginalized communities, actively
addressing bias, and integrating diverse voices. She believes that these principles are
essential for creating long-lasting, meaningful change. Dhivya has worked with various
organizations, including community-based organizations, school systems, nonprofits,
and philanthropies. Most recently, Dhivya worked at the Schusterman Family
Philanthropies, where she managed grants in their education portfolio and led efforts to
strengthen the capacity of their grantees. Before that, she was an Associate Partner at
Bellwether Education Partners, where she spent five years advising on strategic and
talent-related challenges in the education sector. Before her work in the social sector,
Dhivya held roles at IBM Global Business Solutions in its public sector division and
worked in international development, assisting governments with initiatives in economic
development, healthcare, and education. Dhivya holds master’s degrees in public policy
and business administration from Georgetown University and a bachelor's degree in
finance from George Washington University. She is also an alumna of the Education
Pioneers Graduate School Fellowship.