Meet Archna Vyas, the new Gates Foundation country director for India

A Physics postgraduate from the University of Delhi, Archna Vyas has almost three decades of experience across marketing, advertising, communication and policy roles

The Gates Foundation on Monday announced the appointment of Archna Vyas as country director for India. In the role, she will oversee the foundation’s work in India, coordinating closely with the Centre and state governments as well as philanthropies, civil society groups, academic institutions and the private sector.

 

Vyas succeeds Hari Menon, who has headed the Gates Foundation’s India Country Office since 2019 and is set to move into a global leadership role from January 2026.

 

Her mandate includes advancing the foundation’s priorities in line with the government's vision of Viksit Bharat, the foundation said.

But who is she?

A Physics postgraduate from the University of Delhi, Vyas has almost three decades of experience across marketing and advertising roles. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in business administration from the Institute of Management Technology, a diploma in public relations and mass communications from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi, and a behavioural insights certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School.

 

 

According to her LinkedIn profile, she began her career with a media planning role in 1996 at advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather and worked there till 1999. It was followed by a media group head role at FCB (1999-2003), and short stints of one year each as associate media director and business director at Universal McCann and MindShare, respectively.

 

Following this, she spent nearly a decade leading media relations, communications, and digital marketing across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, for British FMCG giant Reckitt.

 

She joined the Gates Foundation in 2014 and has since worked across its health and poverty reduction programmes in India. Prior to the country director role, Vyas served as global director in the foundation’s global policy and advocacy division. Her responsibilities covered both country-level and global engagements, including policy strategy, partnership-building and external communications linked to areas such as digital public infrastructure, sanitation, nutrition, education, agriculture and women’s economic empowerment, the foundation said.

 

According to her profile on the Gates Foundation website, she also worked with Ashoka University’s Centre for Social and Behaviour Change to help establish the Behavioural Insights Unit at NITI Aayog.

 

Moreover, she also serves on the World Health Organisation’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 that focuses on influencing social norms.