Draft:Rajiv Vinnakota

Rajiv Vinnakota (born May 16, 1971) is the President of The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to strengthen American democracy by “cultivating the talent, ideas, and networks that develop lifelong, effective citizens.” In this role, he initiated the Civic Spring Fellowship, which awards grants and other support to young people and youth-led organizations working to solve community problems. He also launched the Civic Network, a digital learning platform available to middle and high school students through schools, libraries, and afterschool programs.

Early life and education
Vinnakota was born in Sweden and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from Princeton University, where he majored in molecular biology. He earned a certificate of studies from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.

He lives in Yarmouth, Maine with his wife and daughter.

Career
Earlier in his career, he co-founded the SEED Foundation, the nation’s first network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools for underserved children. He remains on the foundation's Board.

He was Executive Vice-President of the Aspen Institut e, where he launched and led a new division dedicated to youth leadership development, civic engagement, and opportunity.

In 2020, Vinnakota announced the renaming of the organization, which was formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The Board of Trustees of the organization voted unanimously to remove Woodrow Wilson from its name noting that President Wilson’s “racist policies and beliefs are fundamentally incompatible with the organization’s values and work.”

Vinnakota is Co-Chair of the Civics and Civic Engagement Taskforce for the United States Semiquincentennial Commission celebrating the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. He is also Co-Chair of the Civic Learning Pillar of the Partnership for American Democracy, a coalition directing resources and attention to help strengthen U.S. democracy.

He is the author of the report From Civic Education to a Civic Learning Ecosystem , a comprehensive review of the field of civic education.

Vinnakota is a national advocate for citizen engagement, especially among young people, speaking, writing, and conducting interviews about the topic frequently. He has spoken at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and to Women4Change Indiana, Fordham Institute, and the ASU GSV Summit.

Awards
As a social entrepreneur, Vinnakota was awarded fellowships from Echoing Green, Ashoka and the Aspen Institute, as well as Harvard University’s Innovation in American Government Award, Fast Company/Monitor Group’s Social Capitalist Award, and Oprah Winfrey’s Use Your Life award.

He was a trustee, executive committee member, and annual giving committee national chair for Princeton University. He received Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson Award, the university’s highest honor for undergraduate alumni.