Standard Chartered Foundation Appoints Nalini T As Global Head

By: WE Staff | Thursday, 2 April 2026

• Standard Chartered Foundation announced the appointment of Nalini Tarakeshwar as Global Head,
• This appointment will help the Foundation achieve its aim of increasing access to quality jobs and opportunities for young people

Standard Chartered Foundation has appointed Nalini Tarakeshwar as Global Head, Standard Chartered Foundation and Corporate Philanthropy.

The appointment has been made as the Foundation increases its efforts to improve access to quality jobs and opportunities for young people, as the gap in youth employability continues to grow globally, reaching 12.4 per cent in 2025, with disadvantaged groups bearing the brunt of this gap.

In her new role, Nalini will be responsible for overseeing Standard Chartered’s corporate philanthropy strategy, as well as leading the global strategy for Standard Chartered Foundation. She has over 20 years of experience, most recently as Deputy CEO of UBS Optimus Foundation.

Commenting on Nalini’s appointment, Tanuj Kapilashrami, Chief Strategy and Talent Officer, Standard Chartered, and Trustee, Standard Chartered Foundation, said, “The youth unemployment gap is a critical issue facing the world today. One in every five young people globally is NEET – Not in Employment, Education, or Training. The Standard Chartered Foundation has created over 100,000 jobs to date, impacting over 700,000 lives. Nalini’s experience will enable us to continue to grow our impact.”

Nalini noted that the Foundation has already achieved significant milestones in their assistance of under-resourced youth, particularly young women; therefore, her primary focus is to expand upon these current foundations to create larger impacts on a larger scale through partnerships both internally and externally with other organizations.

Globally, statistics indicate that youth unemployment rates hit a historical high of 12.4 percent in 2025 with 260 million young adults classified as NEET (i.e. "not engaged in education, employment, or training").

Although barriers remain for women who wish to be included within the workforce, they continue to have 24 percent less opportunity to participate in the labour force relative to men.

In order to address these challenges, the Foundation provides training in skills development, job placement into sustainable positions, and support for entrepreneurship through the provision of micro-business start-up assistance.