Avnish is the Co-Founder of Instiglio, a Global South non-profit, that transforms development effectiveness by institutionalizing impact incentives and accountability at the heart of public finance and procurement practices of public institutions. As of 2024, Instiglio has empowered 450 government leaders to transform 25 government and aid entities, and influenced more than $600 million in development spending. Instiglio’s ambition is to codify, scale and institutionalize these new performance standards and practices in public institutions globally, through a large global network of purpose-driven government champions, and through partnerships with major development financing institutions.
Avnish leads the organization’s overall strategy as well as the team that influences and supports Multilateral Development Banks, Bilateral and Multilateral aid institutions in accelerating their leaps of development effectiveness. Before founding Instiglio in 2012, Avnish held various roles, including at MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and at the World Bank. Avnish holds a Masters in Public Administration with a focus on international development from the Harvard Kennedy School, a certificate in Performance Management for Nonprofit Organizations from the Harvard Business School, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from Dartmouth College.
Avnish was awarded the Echoing Green Fellowship and named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” social entrepreneurs for his work with Instiglio. He was a Visiting Fellow of Practice of Oxford University’s Government Outcomes Lab and has been a keynote speaker alongside Nobel laureates Michael Kremer and Joseph Stiglitz at events organized by USAID and Oxford University, respectively. He is a board member of the Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP), a member of the board of advisors of Impact Consultoría Social, an instructor at Philanthropy U, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD). Avnish is of Mauritian origin, though has spent most of his professional life in Colombia and India.