Archna Vyas is serving as the Director of Policy and Communication at the Gates Foundation. She oversees advocacy and communications efforts for two foundation divisions: Global Growth & Opportunity and Gender Equality. Her work advances the goals of the foundation and its partners in areas such as financial inclusion, agricultural productivity, urban sanitation, nutrition, global education, women’s economic empowerment, and women in leadership.
Archna joined the foundation in 2014 and went on to hold multiple leadership positions in the India office, collaborating with governments, nonprofits, community groups, academia, and the private sector. She was instrumental in the creation of the Behavioural Insights Unit within the Indian government’s NITI Aayog policy think tank, in collaboration with Ashoka University’s Centre for Social and Behaviour Change.
Earlier, Archna spent nearly a decade leading media relations, communications, and digital marketing efforts across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa for Reckitt, a company with 30-plus health, hygiene, and home brands. She also spent many years in the advertising industry, where she held leadership positions and supported the launch and growth of many consumer goods brands in India.
Archna has a master’s degree in physics from the University of Delhi, a diploma in public relations and mass communications from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi, and a postgraduate diploma in business administration from Institute of Management Technology. She has also studied behavioral insights in policy decisions at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Archna serves on the World Health Organization’s Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health as well as on the governing body of the South Asia Learning Collaborative, an initiative based at Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health that focuses on influencing social norms.
