The Rockefeller Foundation has named Ashvin Dayal, an Indian American executive who has worked in development institutions, programs, and operations for decades, as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO). He will succeed Natalye Paquin, who will retire on Aug. 1 and transition to a special advisor role.
He will also serve as President of RF Catalytic Capital, which, as the charitable offshoot of The Rockefeller Foundation, has a mission to channel funding to places and people in a faster and more efficient manner, serving both investors and recipients with visionary solutions that help solve today’s most urgent challenges.
“During his 17 years at the Foundation, he has demonstrated again and again the ability to build for the long term — developing teams, forging partnerships, making big bets, and building operations that deliver real results,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “Now, he brings that same vision and operational discipline to ensuring The Rockefeller Foundation has the structures, systems, and talent to meet this moment.”
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“The Rockefeller Foundation has a unique ability to shape the solutions, build the institutions, and mobilize the resources needed to bring opportunity and change in an ever more dynamic world,” said Dayal. “I’ve seen firsthand what our Foundation can do when its operational engine is firing on all cylinders. I look forward to working with Raj and the entire Rockefeller Foundation team to strengthen the systems, deepen our partnerships, and build the organizational excellence that will allow us to keep delivering on our century-long promise to improve the well-being of people around the world.”
As a key architect of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet — the Foundation’s largest single investment in its 113-year history — Dayal helped bring the Alliance from idea to reality, according to a Foundation news release.
He built the case, helped develop the founding partners, and oversaw the Foundation’s investments as the initiative grew into a public-private-philanthropy partnership of more than 50 governments, investors, development banks, and philanthropies working to end energy poverty and accelerate green economic opportunity across more than 30 countries.
Since launching in 2021, the Alliance has implemented projects that are on track to connect more than 90 million people to electricity in over 30 countries worldwide, while creating 3.1 million jobs and reducing nearly 300 million tons of carbon emissions.
Dayal joined The Rockefeller Foundation in 2008 as its Asia Managing Director, running the Foundation’s regional office in Bangkok, where he led the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network — a nine-year partnership that equipped more than 50 cities across the continent to better withstand climate impacts.
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Building on the Foundation’s emerging energy work in Asia, Dayal went on to become Senior Vice President for Power, during which, in addition to conceiving and launching the Global Energy Alliance.
Before joining the Foundation, he spent more than 15 years in senior roles at Oxfam across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, including leading its largest-ever relief and recovery effort in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami.
At Oxfam, he led strategy and operations for the more than 1,000-person organization across multiple countries in Asia, including teams in high-risk and conflict situations.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economic Geography from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and a master’s degree in economics and international development from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.