BGF has appointed Roshni Bandesha to the role of head of ESG and Sustainability.
In her role at BGF, Bandesha will be responsible for embedding its sustainability strategy and integrating ESG within new and existing portfolio companies. She will report directly into executive chairman, Stephen Welton.
Bandesha has spent the last decade working with global organisations to harness the power of ESG and purpose. Most recently, she led the impact and ESG strategy at LeapFrog Investments, one of the largest dedicated impact investors, reaching over 170 million low-income people across 11 emerging markets.
In her role, Bandesha led Leapfrog’s impact and R&D hub Impact Labs, working with companies such as World Remit, a cross-border digital payments service that covers more than 130 countries worldwide, and Goodlife pharmacy, a fast-growing pharmacy and health hub serving communities in East Africa, both reaching underserved low-income consumers and households
Prior to that, Bandesha was a senior research analyst at McKinsey & Company, serving clients across EMEA, including The Gates Foundation, which was set up to alleviate poverty worldwide.
Originally from India, Bandesha completed a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University in New York. She is a member of the Forbes Ignite network which was set up in 2020 to help organisations become more sustainable by using technology, data, design thinking, and behavioural science. She was an expert guide in their inaugural cohort of the Forbes Ignite Impact Fellowship, a four-month innovation focused programs that brought together 31 women at different life stages to create new solutions at the intersection of healthcare and artificial intelligence.
Bandesha says: “I’m delighted to be joining BGF at a time when there is a growing recognition that businesses are not just driven by profit, they must also focus on the impact of their activities on employees, communities and the planet. BGF has shown itself to be incredibly committed to leading best practice in this area, and this has been driven right from the very top. The fact that BGF has such a large portfolio also means there is an opportunity to drive change at scale, and that is an extremely exciting proposition indeed.”
Stephen Welton, executive chairman at BGF, says: “Roshni has received numerous accolades for demonstrating that there is no trade-off between profit and purpose, and we are absolutely thrilled to welcome her to BGF. Her extensive experience in the field of impact investments adds further strength to our operations as we look to supercharge our efforts in this space. ESG sit at the very heart of our investment process, however there is always more we can do, and with Roshni driving ESG strategy for BGF, alongside our investment teams and portfolio companies, we look forward to effecting real change throughout the business and the communities we service.”
