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Dr. R. Balasubramaniam, widely known as Dr. Balu, is a development practitioner, leadership educator, and author whose work bridges grassroots realities and the highest levels of public policy. He currently serves as a full-time Member of NITI Aayog.
He is the founder of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) and the Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement (GRAAM), institutions that have shaped community-driven development and policy advocacy in India for over four decades. A former Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor at Cornell University, he has coached and mentored senior leaders across non-profit, corporate, government, and education sectors around the world.
A physician by training, Dr. Balu holds an MBBS from Mysore Medical College, a master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School (where he was a Mason Fellow), and a PhD in Leadership and Management. He is the author of nine books in Kannada and English, including Power Within: The Leadership Legacy of Narendra Modi, I, the Citizen, Voices from the Grassroots, and Leadership Lessons for Daily Living, works that have earned global acclaim for their insights into citizenship, grassroots realities, and values-based leadership.
