NEW YORK: Former USAID head Rajiv J Shah is set to be named as president of the Rockefeller Foundation, one of America's largest and most influential philanthropies, becoming the youngest person and the first Indian-American to lead the group.
"Thrilled & very proud to be named the next @RockefellerFdn president," Shah, 43, tweeted yesterday.
A report in the New York Times said the Rockefeller Foundation will today name Shah to succeed Judith Rodin, who has been president for 12 years.
The appointment will make Shah one of the "most powerful forces in charitable giving" overseeing a foundation that donates roughly USD 200 million each year, the report added.
The selection will make Shah the youngest person and the first Indian-American to lead the Rockefeller Foundation, which was founded in 1913 by the oil tycoon John D Rockefeller.
"I've seen what's possible when people come together," Shah said in an interview to NYT this week. "We were able to save tens of thousands, if not millions, of lives".
The NYT quoted Shah as saying that he was committed to the broad themes of resilience and inclusive economies.
"That core concept of resilience is extraordinarily important going forward," he said. "It gives us the opportunity to evolve into the future".
Shah added that he would look for opportunities to address divisions in the American electorate in the current political scenario.
"It is a different time today than it was 10 or 15 years ago. We live in a more fractured world," he said in the NYT report.