A practitioner from the very beginning, Jagdeesh’s 35 year professional engagement has been on interrelated issues of poverty and environmental degradation and on ‘systems thinking’ at the interface of ecology, society and economy.
Jagdeesh has been the Chief Executive of Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) since its inception in 2001 till July 2020. Subsequently, he was associated with the ecosystem initiative titled - Promise of Commons since its inception in 2020 till September 2021 as its anchor and curator. He was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Omidyar Network India in 2022. Currently, he is leading the designing of the Common Ground initiative and promoting systems leadership for environmental governance and resilient rural livelihoods.
Jagdeesh has been conferred the ‘Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship’ 2015 and he is also a Henry Arnhold (Mulago) Conservation Fellow (2017) and Senior Ashoka Fellow (2022).
Arresting DeforestationClean WaterEconomic OpportunityEnvironmental SustainabilityHuman RightsLivelihoodsSmallholder ProductivityWater ManagementYouth Job Skills
Central and Southern Asia
