Lakshmi Venkataraman Venkatesan returned to India in the late 1980s, after nearly two decades of a successful career in high-tech. An alma mater of Delhi University holding a double masters in Physics and Engineering Science from New York University, she started her professional career with the prestigious AT&T- Bell Laboratories, USA. Early seeds of her philanthropic journey were sown, as she treaded on an unchartered visionary path, to develop a program on entrepreneurship. Aware and respectful of her privileged background as the daughter of the former President of India, Ms. Venkatesan co-founded Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST) with the stalwart of industry, late J.R.D. Tata and with the support of HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales in 1992. BYST works to support young aspiring entrepreneurs and nurture the entrepreneurial dreams of the underserved youth at India’s grassroots. Over the past 27 years, many of these “bottom of the pyramid” entrepreneurs have become millionaires, winning national and international awards. Partnering together with Youth Business International (YBI), Ms. Venkatesan has also lend her advisory support to establish similar programs around the world and has successfully replicated the BYST model in over 48 countries, such as, Brazil, Argentina, Africa, Uganda, Kenya and neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Nepal Indonesia, Philippines. She currently serves on numerous task forces and boards: Leading member of the Youth Business International (YBI), UK ; Member of various National Level Task Forces of the Government of India ; Member of the CII led committees: Foundation Steering Committee of Woman Exemplar Program 2017, Northern Region CSR Regional Committee, North East Council; Charter member of Council on Affirmative Action and the Indus Entrepreneurs – Delhi; Trustee in Guild of Service, Delhi.
