JA Worldwide Board of Governors Spotlight: PG Raghuraman

November 25, 2020

Growing up in the coastal city of Chennai (known then as Madras), PG Raghuraman, JA Asia Pacific Board Chair and member of the JA Worldwide Board of Governors, studied Mechanical Engineering at the College of Engineering, Guindy, and earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. After graduation, he went to work for Accenture, where he would spend the next 30 years in a variety of roles. He worked on a startup team that grew from zero to 10,000+ people in just five years. Several years later, as COO of Accenture’s Asia Pacific Financial Services business, he helped drive growth and tripled the size of the business and also delivering 30 consecutive quarters of growth and profitability. He now serves as Chief Risk Officer–Growth Markets, a division that covers Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, China, the Middle East, and Latin America.

It was through Accenture that PG was introduced to JA. He was invited to join the board of JA India in 2010, where he worked to help shape its longer-term strategy. For the past five years, he has worked with JA Asia Pacific, and in 2020 he became Board Chair. PG works with JA because  “JA provides an important platform and bridge between students’ aspirations and the current education system.” He believes an openness to continuously learn, willingness to take risks and experiment, and the ability to bounce back and exhibit resilience in the face of adversity are key skills for today’s young people, and JA programs and designed to teach these skills.

In addition to his career and his volunteer work, PG just completed his doctoral research on Leadership and Psychological Resilience at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. JA Worldwide is honored to have PG Raghuraman serve on our Board of Governors as well as Board Chair of JA Asia Pacific.