Khan Academy India, a non-profit online learning platform offering free education, has appointed Swati Vasudevan as its new managing director (MD). 

With over two decades of experience in strategy and organisational transformation, she will oversee India operations and be responsible for driving further growth for Khan Academy in the country. 

Vasudevan has over 25 years of leadership experience in both not-for-profit and for-profit sectors. She has served as the COO at Gates Foundation India country office and co-established and managed Indian School of Public Policy, a graduate-level educational institution, as their founding CEO. She has also advised and mentored startups in the edtech and health-tech verticals. 

Vasudevan started her career as a field engineer, working on oil rigs with Schlumberger and has worked in several countries in the Far East, South East Asia, and 10 years in the US. She has worked for McKinsey, Schneider Electric, and Sleep Number. She is an engineer from IIT Delhi and has an MBA from Chicago Booth. 

Khan Academy started its India operations in 2017 with approximately 6,000 monthly users and now caters to over 10,00,000 monthly users in 2022. Besides the increase in usage, Khan Academy is committed to making learning content accessible in more regional languages in India so that every student can learn in their preferred language. Khan Academy partnered with the state govt of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra among other to make quality education accessible in public schools. 

The organisation is poised for its next level of growth, and Vasudevan will be instrumental in helping drive this impact, Khan Academy said in a statement.

“We are delighted to have Swati spearheading our India operations for Khan Academy. India is a unique market with several vernacular languages and curriculums for learning. Swati has rich leadership experience, and her expertise will help us lead our mission of making world-class learning content available to every learner in India,” said Sal Khan, founder and educator, Khan Academy.

“This is one of the most special roles for me because I strongly resonate with Khan Academy’s mission. The education sector is rapidly changing globally, creating opportunities for growth and impact. We will continue to look for ways to expand our reach to enable educators and serve students across the country in their native language. Access to quality education is the ticket to economic progress for a generation. I look forward to being a part of this journey of inspiring and educating students across age-groups in India,” added Vasudevan.