Shalini Unnikrishnan
Managing Director & Partner
Chicago
Shalini Unnikrishnan is the Global Lead for Societal Impact in the Consumer and Social Impact practices at Boston Consulting Group.
Shalini’s work at BCG is focused at the intersection of the private, public, and social sectors. She is the co-author of “Total Societal Impact,” which explores how companies can gain business and societal value through their core operations. Shalini gained expertise in this subject through her work with private sector clients. She also supports public and social sector clients on private sector engagement. Shalini has worked extensively in emerging markets–on value chains of private sector companies in agriculture, financial inclusion, women’s empowerment, and economic development. Her experience includes supporting the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response in West Africa, working within presidencies in Africa as an advisor on economic development, supporting global health and education coalitions, and designing public-private partnerships for consumer companies.
Shalini has taken leaves of absence from BCG (2009-10, 2012) to serve with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's Africa Governance Initiative (AGI). She was embedded within President Kagame's government in Rwanda to support private-sector development, and she was a day-to-day advisor to President Banda in Malawi.
Shalini is a recent Presidential Leadership Scholar, a selective program led by former President George W. Bush, and she has written and published extensively on various topics in societal impact including a TED talk on new models for tackling humanitarian crises. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Tony Blair Foundation.
Big companies are working together to foster regenerative practices, revive high-value ecosystems, and increase the diversity of raw materials in their product portfolios.
Consumer and investor pressure is not going away. Companies must double down on sustainability as they emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.
African governments must develop a response that is comprehensive, adaptive, and implemented effectively in order to take fast action in several areas.
The impact of COVID-19 in Africa may be mitigated by the youthful population—but a constrained health system and high incidence of other health conditions will intensify the challenge.
Major shrimp importers are demanding sustainability and traceability. To thrive in the coming decade, producers must change the way they do business.
Empowering women who own businesses by removing barriers to equality of opportunity could fuel massive global economic growth.
Entrepreneurs who offer banking via mobile devices could finally put financial services within reach for 1.7 billion adults around the globe.
A stunning one-third of all food produced globally goes to waste—and the problem is growing. Companies that take aim at this issue can reap rewards.
Contributing to society cannot be a side activity. Companies that use their core business to address environmental, social, and governance issues can create more value in the long term.
The effort to increase both societal impact and shareholder returns must start at the top and then become embedded in the organization.
