Rukmini Banerji is a Senior Advisor to Pratham Education Foundation. She served as the organisation's CEO for more than a decade, from 2015 to 2026. With extensive experience in the design and delivery of educational interventions, she played a pivotal role in developing and implementing Pratham's partnership programs with governments.
Rukmini was trained as an economist at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and the Delhi School of Economics. She was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University (1981-83) and later earned her PhD at the University of Chicago in 1991. Rukmini worked in Chicago for several years at Spencer Foundation. She returned to India in 1996 and has been with Pratham ever since. Rukmini has extensive experience in the field—working directly with rural and urban communities as well as designing and implementing large-scale partnerships with governments. Rukmini also led Pratham’s research and assessment efforts, including the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) exercise from 2005 to 2014.
In 2008, Rukmini received the Maulana Abul Kalam Shiksha Puraskar by the Government of Bihar, becoming its first recipient. In 2021, she was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development.
Originally from Bihar, Rukmini is now based between Delhi and Pune. She writes frequently on education in both Hindi and English dailies in India and enjoys writing books and stories for children.
