Vyjayanti Desai

Vyjayanti Desai is the Program Manager for Identification for Development (ID4D), a global, multi-sectoral initiative of the World Bank Group. To enable access to services and rights for all, ID4D will support progress towards identification systems using 21st century solutions.

Prior to joining the ID4D program, Vyjayanti was Lead Private Sector Development Specialist with the World Bank Group’s Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice. She joined the World Bank Group in 2000 and spent time working on World Bank lending and IFC advisory programs in Africa, East Asia and South Asia as well as in global roles. Within the WBG, she has shaped many cross-departmental and Bank-IFC programs, actively working to develop a unified agenda and designing integrated multi-sectoral solutions on a range of topics. She managed a global team focused on private participation in infrastructure and social sectors in investment climate and led several joint Bank-IFC multi-sectoral engagements on topics of small and medium enterprise development (SME), competitiveness, investment climate policy and regulatory reforms, and access to finance.

Vyjayanti has a MBA in Finance from Wharton, Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and BA in International Relations from University of Pennsylvania.