Abha Thorat-Shah

Abha leads our Social Finance work across South Asia. She is a founding member of the British Asian Trust, contributing to its design and leadership during the start-up years and now to its ongoing growth. She has led pioneering social finance work with Government(s), private and not-for-profit partners that tackle complex development challenges including the improvement of education and gender outcomes in South Asia. In recognition of work in this area, Abha was a Fellow of Practice 2020 and 2021 at the Go Labs, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.

A recognised expert in her field, she is a co-chair of Taskforce 9 on Global Cooperation for SDGs Financing as part of Think20, the official engagement group of the G20 bringing together leading think tanks and research centres worldwide and is a member of the Asian Impact Leaders Network hosted by the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network.

Abha was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the UK India Business Council and worked with Reinsurance markets in London. She grew up in Mumbai and graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of Mumbai and a BA Hons in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University.

Abha currently serves on the Board of Trustees at the London Stock Exchange Foundation.