A native of Detroit, and a graduate of the University of Michigan, Anuja has social-change experience across four continents. She has worked for years to create new opportunities, establish new ways of thinking, and set new expectations across a wide range of development issues, but three in particular: education, health, and housing.
In 2010, Anuja co-founded Michigan Corps, a social network of local and global Michiganders committed to change in Michigan. Michigan Corps builds community among Michiganders everywhere and launches innovative education and entrepreneurship projects across the state.
Michigan Corps' Founding Corps Members include: Google Chair and CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt; Emmy Award-winning Sportscaster Dick Enberg; CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta; Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Jeffrey Eugenides; Former Digg CEO Jay Adelson; Skoll Foundation President Dr. Larry Brilliant; and Sun Microsystems Founder and Former CEO Scott McNealy.
Anuja's leadership of Michigan Corps has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Associated Press, and numerous other local and national media. In January 2011, Michigan Corps was named a Semifinalist for the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship for social entrepreneurs worldwide. To date, Michigan Corps has connected business entrepreneurs with mentors, helped students generate ideas for community change, built public policy capacity among social entrepreneurs, and set the stage for the arrival of several nationally-regarded innovators in Michigan. Anuja built the local and national partnerships that led to the launch of Kiva Detroit, a microloan program for Detroiters and Kiva's first locally-organized effort in the United States.
From August 2008 through March 2010, she was Senior Intrapreneur at Ashoka, the largest and most recognizable organization promoting social entrepreneurship worldwide. At Ashoka, Anuja led the development of India's first commercially-viable slum housing solution in the city of Ahmedabad. After opening Ashoka's first office in Ahmedabad, she coordinated the development of market-driven low-income housing solutions across India, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Egypt from Ashoka's global headquarters in Washington D.C.
Her past experiences include a stint at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington D.C. where her work centered on improvements in math and science education, and a later tenure at Cornell University's Office of Government Affairs where she helped shape the University's advocacy on student financial aid and research grants. Outside the United States, Anuja has worked on providing access to higher education for refugees and distributing knowledge regarding the right to an education in South Africa. Later, she led the planning, local capacity building, and implementation of a World Health Organization study in Uttar Pradesh to understand how best to eradicate the most dangerous strain of polio remaining in India. In 2008, Anuja developed and initiated the implementation of a branding strategy for Deepalaya, one of North India's largest NGOs focused primarily on developing self-reliance in children residing in India's slums.
Importantly, Anuja is a former Director of Dance Marathon, one of the largest student-run non-profit organizations at the University of Michigan. From 2003 to 2005, she was part of the leadership team that raised both monetary support and awareness for the needs of pediatric rehabilitation programs in Michigan; in total, she contributed to nearly $500,000 of support for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor and Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
Having studied education and international development at the undergraduate and graduate levels (B.S., University of Michigan and M.A., University of London), Anuja's passion for social change now brings her home to Michigan where she serves as Co-Founder and Board Member of Michigan Corps.
Contact Anuja via e-mail at
ajaitly@michigancorps.org.