Robin Hood is excited to welcome Nikita Desai to the team as Senior Philanthropy Advisor. Nikita joins Robin Hood with over 20 years of non-profit leadership experience with a deep commitment to gender equity and social impact.
As Senior Philanthropy Advisor, Nikita is leading the development of Robin Hood’s first Women’s Collective. In this pioneering role, Nikita focuses on engaging and mobilizing passionate women philanthropists to advance Robin Hood’s mission in addressing poverty and social inequality in New York City. With a strong background in philanthropy and gender equity, she brings valuable insight and experience to this role, ensuring impactful engagement and investment in initiatives that create lasting change.
Previously, Nikita was Associate Director of East Coast Philanthropy at The Asia Foundation, where she led private fundraising strategies and donor cultivation efforts. Before that, she spent six years as Director of Policy and Corporate Programs at the Korea Society and held roles at the Asia Society and the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies.
She has also consulted leading global organizations, including The Asia Foundation, World Bank, USAID, Femmes Africa Solidarité, Alliance for International Women’s Rights, and the Office of New York Mayor Bloomberg. A proud former Peace Corps volunteer, Nikita served in Mongolia, where she worked on youth development and education initiatives. She earned a master’s degree in international policy studies, specializing in Gender and International Development, from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and an International MBA as a Fulbright Scholar at Spain’s IE Business School. A polyglot, she speaks Gujarati, Hindi, Spanish, Mongolian, and English.
In addition to her role at Robin Hood, Nikita serves on the Leadership Network of the Amplify Her Foundation, where she supports innovative grantmaking and advocacy efforts that uplift women and girls in New York City.
About Robin Hood
Robin Hood is New York City’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, they have invested nearly $3 billion to elevate and fuel New Yorkers’ permanent escapes from poverty. In 2024, through grantmaking with 250+ community partners, they created pathways to opportunities out of poverty through their strategic partnerships on childcare, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more.
