An accountant by training, an entrepreneur by passion and a philanthropist by desire, Shalni Arora sold her biotechnology firm and founded Savannah Wisdom in 2011; an independent foundation which partners with charities and not for profit organisations with game changing initiatives in areas such as legal rights, child protection, corruption and peace and security.

Savannah Wisdom’s focus in India is on issues around gender equality and the societal support and change women need to see so that they feel empowered and also protected by the state. It is keen to find ways to re-balance the inequality in access to legal rights faced by women in India in cases of sexual and domestic violence as it believes that addressing this inequality is a step towards building the social contract giving women dignity and freedom.

Shalni is also the Senior Adviser and Chair of the Steering Committee on Transparency International’s Global Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Programme and a Trustee of Transparency International, of Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity and The Cohesion and Integration Network. She also manages the B&M Community Fund, part of the Corporate and Social Responsibility division at B&M Retail Plc.

She believes that in order to create social change it is essential to connect with organisations that shares the same vision and to take an entrepreneurial approach towards philanthropy. As an Influencer she contributes an international worldview to the dialogue in the space of women’s rights and gender justice.