Kumar Rajesh

Professional Summary

Strategy, policy, and partnerships professional with 10+ years of experience leading evidence-based strategy development, stakeholder engagement, and implementation planning across India. Currently completing a Master of Public Policy at the London School of Economics on a Chevening Scholarship. Proven ability to structure complex problems, manage cross-functional projects, facilitate senior-level discussions, and translate analysis into decision-ready recommendations, roadmaps, and briefs for government and development partners. Experience spans poverty, gender, livelihoods, human development, public systems, and inclusive growth in collaboration with government, multilateral, academic, and civil society stakeholders.

Core Skills

Strategy Development  |  Annual Planning  |  Portfolio Management  |  Project Management  |  Cross-functional Coordination  |  Workshop Facilitation  |  Stakeholder and Partnership Management  |  Government Engagement  |  Political-economy Analysis  |  Evidence Synthesis  |  Results Based Management  |  Public Management  |  Policy Writing  |  Executive Briefings and Strategic Narratives  |  Quantitative and Policy Analysis  |  Data Visualisation  |  Microsoft Office  |  Excel  |  Python (pandas, matplotlib, Altair/Vega-Lite)  |  GitHub

Professional Experience

• Led strategy and annual planning processes for the Policy Unit, aligning thematic priorities and partnership engagement with the UN Sustainable Development Framework for India.
• Shaped India Country Office policy partnership strategy by working across portfolios to strengthen strategic coherence and align external engagement with national development priorities.
• Led high-impact strategy projects for government partners, including Uttarakhand's Employment Generation Strategy, Women's Policy, Innovation Policy, and Monitoring & Evaluation Policy, taking projects from diagnosis and consultation through to decision-ready recommendations and adoption.
• Structured complex policy problems through diagnostics, evidence synthesis, stakeholder mapping, and workshop-based prioritisation, helping senior government counterparts navigate trade-offs and make strategic choices.
• Designed execution-oriented materials including roadmaps, results frameworks, briefing notes, strategic narratives, and policy toolkits to support implementation planning and follow-through after policy approval.
• Coordinated 25+ departmental roadmaps under the Atmanirbhar Uttarakhand initiative, facilitating cross-functional discussions across senior officials and aligning departmental actions with broader state and national priorities.
• Managed flagship strategic partnerships, including India's Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 (with NITI Aayog and Oxford University) and the Economic Policy for Women-Led Development network (with the Gates Foundation, ICRIER, and the PM's Economic Advisory Council), by aligning technical inputs, institutional incentives, timelines, and decision-making processes across partners.
• Managed a World Bank-funded scheme rationalisation exercise, analysing overlap across government programmes and developing convergence recommendations to improve efficiency and value for money in social protection spending.
• Produced concise, executive-facing communication materials for senior leadership, including political-economy briefs, talking points, and background notes that informed strategic positioning and external engagement.
• Facilitated senior-level consultations and multi-stakeholder workshops with government, research, and civil society stakeholders, using structured agendas and process management to build consensus, resolve ambiguity, and move projects toward actionable decisions.

• Conducted policy, legislative, and budget analysis to support evidence-based oversight of government departments by legislative committees.
• Drafted executive-ready committee reports, analytical briefs, and background notes by synthesising complex evidence into clear findings and recommendations.
• Managed consultations with policymakers, legal experts, and researchers to inform committee deliberations and strengthen evidence use.
• Structured complex governance and regulatory issues into actionable analytical questions for senior institutional stakeholders.
• Supported financial and procedural oversight through analysis of departmental budgets, expenditure patterns, and compliance issues.

• Led a EUR 500,000 European Union-funded multi-partner SDG monitoring and advocacy project, managing delivery, partner coordination, and evidence generation across government, donor, and civil society stakeholders.
• Designed and operationalised the 100 Hotspots citizen-generated data framework, translating broad inclusion objectives into a practical multi-state research and evidence-generation model across 10 states and 10 marginalised population groups.
• Managed end-to-end project execution by training and coordinating a 50-member volunteer network and maintaining quality across qualitative and quantitative data collection.
• Synthesised field evidence into policy-facing outputs and recommendations, including India's first SDG review report on marginalised groups.
• Engaged policy stakeholders, including NITI Aayog, to support uptake of findings in national SDG review processes.
• Presented findings at the 2019 UN High-Level Political Forum, where the initiative received SDG Good Practice recognition from UN-DESA.

• Supported policy and advocacy priorities by conducting research, synthesising evidence, and translating complex development issues into concise, policy-facing outputs.
• Contributed to the India Inequality Report by reviewing literature, analysing secondary material, and shaping findings into clear narratives and recommendations.
• Authored policy briefs on gender-inclusive development, education financing, and resource governance, adapting technical content for external audiences and decision-makers.
• Designed and drove stakeholder outreach to elected representatives, using research findings to shape advocacy strategy and support policy engagement.

• Contributed research and data analysis for the Tribal Development Report (Routledge, 2022), conducting fieldwork across 10 states.
• Co-authored an impact assessment of MGNREGA in Rajasthan, analysing programme outcomes and translating findings into strategic recommendations.
• Supported proposal development for the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights — log frames, financial declarations, and project background.

• Provided policy and legislative research support to a Member of Parliament, preparing parliamentary questions, notices, briefing materials, and analytical inputs.
• Structured complex policy, legal, and political information into concise, decision-useful materials to support parliamentary interventions.
• Built an applied understanding of political economy by working closely with an elected representative and adapting research inputs to parliamentary priorities.

Education

Selected Publications & Policy Outputs

1. Rajesh, K., Sundaram, R.M., & Pant, M.K. (2023). Uttarakhand State Employment Generation Strategy. Government of Uttarakhand.
2. Rajesh, K. (2022). Declining Female Labour Force Participation Rate in Uttarakhand. Policy Brief No. 01, Government of Uttarakhand.
3. Rajesh, K. (2022). Labour Market Situation in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand Economic Survey 2021–22, pp. 45–56.
4. Rajesh, K. (2021). Examining the Issue of Certain Entries in the Central List of OBCs Pertaining to Delhi. Delhi Legislative Assembly.
5. Rajesh, K. (2019). Alleged Non-Compliance of Free Treatment for EWS Patients in Private Hospitals of Delhi. Delhi Legislative Assembly.

6. Rajesh, K., & Namala, A. (2019). The 100 HotSpots: SDGs in India. Wada Na Todo Abhiyan.
7. Rajesh, K. (2018). Towards Gender-Inclusive Development in Odisha. Policy Brief No. 34, Oxfam India.
8. Golder, S., & Rajesh, K. (2018). District Mineral Foundation: Issues and Recommendations. Policy Brief No. 33, Oxfam India.
9. Rajesh, K. (2018). Public Provisioning of Elementary Education in India. Policy Brief No. 32, Oxfam India.
10. Rajesh, K. (2018). Making Development Gender-Inclusive in Jharkhand. Policy Brief No. 31, Oxfam India.

11. Rajesh, K. (2025). Is India's Poverty Rate 5%, 16%, or 24%? Frontline.
12. Rajesh, K. (2018). Why More Women Are Needed in Parliament. Business Standard.
13. Rajesh, K. (2018). Reducing Maternal Mortality: Miles to Go. Business Standard.