Career Principles of Doctor, Social Entrepreneur and Harvard Kennedy School Graduate Ruha Shadab

Ruha Shadab is a doctor turned public health professional turned social entrepreneur. She is the Founder of LedBy Foundation, a unique leadership incubator that works on improving equity in the workplace.



She is a recent graduate from Harvard University, where she received her Master in Public Policy on a full tuition scholarship. On graduation, she was awarded the Harvard Kennedy School Women’s Leadership Award: the first Indian to receive it. During her Master’s, she served as the Co-Chair of the India Conference at Harvard, worked at Yale University as first author for a medical ethics paper, and interned at the Gates Foundation on a global health strategy framework.



Prior to Harvard, Ruha worked at the Government of India’s policy think-tank: NITI Aayog, chaired by the Prime Minister. There, she was part of the roll out of the world’s largest government health insurance scheme. She has also worked with the international health NGO: the Clinton Health Access Initiative, where she prepared the ground for public health interventions for maternal and child health. Ruha is an alum of Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. She is skilled in strategy development, project management, and stakeholder engagement.



Ruha cares about market-oriented solutions to accelerate the economy’s transition to a more cohesive, respectful, and inclusive model through eliminating entry and retention barriers for underrepresented women. When not working, Ruha can be found running, reading the Economist, or baking.