Rohini Nilekani is an Indian writer, author and philanthropist. She is the founder-chairperson of Arghyam Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on water and sanitation issues, founded in 2001. She also chaired the Akshara Foundation, which focuses on elementary education. Nilekani serves as the co-founder and director of non-profit education platform, EkStep. In 2010 and 2014, Forbes named her in its list of "Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy", and was honoured with the 2013 Philanthropy Award in the Outstanding Philanthropist category by Forbes India.
After completing her studies, Rohini started working as a reporter at the now-defunct Bombay Magazine in 1980 and later worked in Bangalore for Sunday magazine. In 1998, she released her first novel, Stillborn, which was published by Penguin Books. Stillborn was a medical thriller novel and was well received by the readers. She has written and published her own children's stories, Sringeri Series, published by Pratham Books, a non-profit publisher of children's books, which she co-founded in 2004. briefing on 'Nirmal Bharat Yatra' to create awareness about sanitation, in New Delhi on September 28, 2012. The actress Vidya Balan and Rohini Nilekani are also seen. Her second book, Uncommon Ground, a nonfiction work based on her reporting as an anchor of the 2008 Indian TV program of the same name. Uncommon Ground was also published by Penguin Books in 2011. In 2001, Rohini Nilekani founded Arghyam Foundation, a non-profit that works on water and sanitation issues and is funded by her personal endowment. In December 2016, Nilekani jointly acquired a 2% stake in Fabindia. Rohini and Nandan Nilekani have pledged half of their wealth to charity through The Giving Pledge, a campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Nilekani is on the board of trustees of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. She serves on the Eminent Persons Advisory Group of the Competition Commission of India since May 2012. In July 2011, she was appointed as a member of the Audit Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Rohini and Nandan Nilekani have donated $5 million each to IIT-Bombay in 2002 and Yale University to fund an India studies program in 2008. Similarly, they have donated Rs 50 crore to the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in 2011. In December 2013, Rohini and Nandan Nilekani donated $8 million to the National Council of Applied Economic Research, India's oldest economic think tank. In August 2014, Rohini Nilekani sold $27 million worth of shares in Infosys and deployed it in various charities in the areas of water, education, environment and governance.
She was placed #6th in the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2019 for a donation of. She was ranked #1 in the list of Women Philanthropist of 2019, by the Hurun Report India Philanthropy List 2019.
