Tarun Khanna, Aspire Institute co-founder and the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School (HBS), has long dedicated his career to mobilizing underutilized talent and advancing entrepreneurship as a driver of social and economic development in emerging markets. He has played a central role in shaping Aspire Institute’s vision to identify and empower high-potential young leaders from underserved communities around the world.
Drawing on decades of experience in academia, policy, and entrepreneurship, his work with Aspire reflects a deep commitment to expanding access to opportunity and building pathways for global talent to thrive. It has earned him recognition from The Rockefeller Foundation and acceptance into its prestigious, highly competitive 2026 Bellagio Center Residency Program.
A Life Shaped by Education and Global Perspective
Professor Khanna was born in Delhi, India and nurtured by an environment that deeply valued education, integrity, and service. His mother, an educator who built schools, and father, whose work exposed the family to diverse cities, communities, and ways of life across India, instilled in him intellectual curiosity and a strong sense of purpose.
When the time came to pursue higher education, Professor Khanna set his sights on Princeton University, an American institution where service and civic engagement lie at the heart of its mission. At Princeton, Professor Khanna expanded his worldview through introductions to new people, ideas, and perspectives from across the globe.
“Princeton just opened the world up in a physical and concrete way,” he said. “I suddenly met people from all over the world.”
What followed was not a straightforward career path, but a series of deliberate, thoughtful transitions — from engineering and applied mathematics to economics on Wall Street, academia at HBS, and entrepreneurship through his own software companies. Guided by curiosity and a keen sense of opportunity, Professor Khanna made choices that ultimately shaped his vision for driving impact at scale.
Unlimited Talent Versus Limited Opportunity
The idea behind what is now the Aspire Institute began in 2017, when Professor Khanna and his colleague Karim Lakhani noticed a group of international students visiting the HBS campus. They were participating in a long-standing program designed to expose less privileged students to the university. The experience prompted a broader realization: the opportunity gap extended far beyond this one group.
“Karim and I asked ourselves, ‘Why aren’t we doing this for other communities — not just this particular demographic?’” Professor Khanna recalled.
What started as a question quickly turned into action. Drawing on experience in building systems to identify overlooked talent, Professors Khanna and Lakhani enlisted a small team of educators and launched the Crossroads Emerging Leaders Program in just seven weeks. Thousands applied, and 50 students from the regions of South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa were selected for a study-abroad experience in Dubai.
“We had people from refugee camps, from villages, someone whose family had sold their family cow to fund the ticket — most had never been on an airplane,” Professor Khanna said.
That first cohort revealed a defining truth that continues to guide our organization today: talent is universal, but access to opportunity is not, and when access is expanded, meaningful impact follows.
“Every day, millions of young people navigate systems that were never built with them in mind,” Professor Khanna said. “Yet, they carry ambition, resilience, and curiosity that — if nurtured — can transform not only their own lives, but also their families, communities, and economies.”
Since then, Aspire Institute has evolved from a Harvard-based initiative into a global movement. What began as an in-person program has grown into a scalable online learning platform — the Aspire Leaders Program — which now reaches hundreds of thousands of first-generation and limited-income learners each year. With a network of Foundries providing local support around the world, Aspire has become a powerful engine for unlocking human potential at scale.
“This is what Aspire makes possible: a world where a young person in New York can learn alongside a peer in Lagos; where a first-generation learner in Bolivia can launch a project to serve their community; where a college student in rural India can receive mentorship from leading experts; where the power of a global community becomes a lifelong resource,” Professor Khanna said. “When these individual transformations multiply across hundreds of thousands of learners, they form a collective force for economic mobility and impact.”
Recognition from The Rockefeller Foundation
At the center of Professor Khanna’s work is a deep commitment to building initiatives that empower individuals and enable them to contribute meaningfully to their communities. He is not guided by rigid plans, but by curiosity, reflection, and collaboration.
“It’s a combination of serendipity, introspection, experimentation, and a lot of course correction,” he said. “Most importantly, it’s having fun with a team of people that you like and respect.”
This ethos is woven into Aspire’s DNA. Our organization is continuously evolving, adapting to new challenges and opportunities while remaining firmly anchored in our mission.
Professor Khanna’s selection for The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center Residency Program is a remarkable achievement, and one that reflects his decades of impact across academia, innovation, and global development.
The program brings leaders from around the world together for four weeks to collaborate and focus on solving complex global challenges.
“I’m going to spend a month focusing on how to improve our Foundry model for Aspire and have some time to introspect how far we’ve come and what’s a good course alteration,” he said.
Aspire’s Foundry model is an approach that blends global reach with local impact and enables our in-country affiliates to more effectively localize our mission, expand our reach, and foster on-the-ground community building. This opportunity will provide Professor Khanna with access to a global network of thinkers and practitioners while also allowing him space to refine Aspire’s strategy, deepen our organization’s impact, and explore new directions for growth.
Looking to the Future
Professor Khanna’s invitation to the Bellagio Center Residency Program is a moment of significance for Aspire — a global recognition of our current impact and future potential.
We are excited to build on this opportunity and translate the insights gained into actions that better serve young leaders around the world and empower them to achieve their full potential.
