Baratta Center Announces Winners of Inaugural Global Impact Award

The Baratta Center for Global Business at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business has announced five winners of the inaugural Georgetown Baratta Center Global Impact Award. 

In alignment with Georgetown McDonough’s mission to inspire ethical leaders who serve the common good and Georgetown University’s Jesuit value of cura personalis, or “care for the whole person,” the Georgetown Baratta Center Global Impact Award aims to acknowledge future leaders under the age of 40 who are engaged in innovative and sustainable initiatives that foster cross-border business and economic development.

“We are proud to recognize five exceptional alumni for this year’s inaugural Georgetown Baratta Center Global Impact awards, who are driving the future of global business through their professional, philanthropic, and educational endeavors here in Washington, D.C., and around the world,” said Anil Khurana, executive director of the Baratta Center at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. “The Baratta Center looks forward to recognizing these outstanding Hoyas for their dedication to serving the common good at the Future of Global Business Conference this month.”

The winners of the 2024 Georgetown Baratta Center Global Impact Award are:

Vikram Agrawal (SFS’07), CEO and Co-Founder, American Resilience Partners; Director, EarthxCapital, EarthX; Dallas, Texas, United States

Vikram Agrawal is a mission-driven, operationally-focused investment and management professional who believes that everyone deserves an opportunity to be successful, however they define success.

Agrawal is currently collaborating with Texan businessman and environmentalist Trammell S. Crow with a dual mandate focused on leading investments and catalyzing impact in mission-critical infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and resilience. He is a managing director in the Personal Family Office of Trammell S. Crow where he is working on several initiatives. 

Vikram is the CEO and co-founder of American Resilience Partners  – a Texas-based, entrepreneurial private investment firm. In addition, he separately helps support the international environmental nonprofit EarthX as the director of EarthxCapital, which catalyzes impact related to sustainability investment and business innovation and hosts the annual invitation-only E-Capital Summit.

Agrawal has more than 15 years of experience across several industry sectors in the United States and emerging markets (Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, and Africa) through his prior roles with Citigroup, International Finance Corporation, Patriarch Partners, and Prophet Equity.

Agrawal received his MBA from the Yale School of Management, where he was a recipient of the Award for Excellence in Ethics and Leadership. He received his Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he studied international political economy, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors for the Georgetown University Alumni Association.

Caroline Cotto (NHS’14), Director, NECTAR; Oakland, California, United States

Caroline Cotto is a director at Food System Innovations (FSI), a philanthropic impact platform where she leads NECTAR, an initiative accelerating the protein transition with taste. By conducting large-scale sensory panels of alternative protein products and operationalizing the resulting data, NECTAR aims to create category-level value and empower stakeholders to make evidence-based decisions. 

Prior to FSI, Cotto co-founded Renewal Mill, an award-winning upcycled food startup, and served as the inaugural board president of the Upcycled Food Association, the world’s first trade association for upcycled brands. Cotto has experience at the United Nations World Food Programme, the White House (for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative), Techstars Farm to Fork accelerator, and HubSpot, where she ran the women’s diversity program globally. 

Cotto regularly mentors food, tech, and circular economy startups. She studied at Georgetown University’s School of Nursing and Health Studies, and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Taiwan. Cotto has been named to both Forbes 30 Under 30 and the 50 NEXT lists.

Agustin Porres (MPP’16), Regional Director for Latin America, Varkey Foundation; Buenos Aires, Argentina

Agustin Porres is the regional director for Latin America at the Varkey Foundation, an organization dedicated to celebrating and empowering the teaching profession around the world. He worked in the Ministry of Education of the City of Buenos Aires, as well as in the National Social Security Administration.  

Porres led the educational policy sector of Fundación Contemporánea and was executive director of FormarHub in the United States. Additionally, he is a founding member of the Latin American Coalition for Excellence in Teaching, a group that brings together experts from the region to design reforms for the teaching career. 

Porres frequently writes for leading media organizations in Argentina and Latin America at large. He published Unfinished Business in Education, a book of interviews with former ministers of education from around the world. Annually, he is invited to serve as a judge for organizations that work to recognize teachers in the region. 

Recently, Porres led the establishment of Araucaria Community, a network of 30 education ministers in office, who meet annually to enhance their training, ties, and renew their inspiration.  

He is a visiting professor at the Austral University and has taught at various universities. He is a member of the alumni board of the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, where he holds a master’s degree in public policy, and serves on the board of Forgiveness Forum, hosted by the Templeton World Charity Foundation. 

Porres studied philosophy as an undergraduate at the Catholic University of Argentina, where he also completed a postgraduate degree in politics, government, and administration.

Devi Sahny (C’15), Founder and CEO, Ascend Now; Singapore, Singapore

After three years in investment banking at Goldman Sachs New York City, Devi Sahny moved across the globe to Singapore, where she founded an edtech startup, Ascend Now.

The company aims at democratizing student entrepreneurship and creates personalized curricula in entrepreneurship, design thinking, soft-skill programs, and character building based on students’ preferences. Ascend Now works with 50,000+ students, 45 international schools, and a few global ministries of education. 

Passionate about education, Sahny has many awards and accolades to her name including, Forbes 30 Under 30, Prestige 40 Under 40, TedX and Ted Speaker, St. Gallen Symposium Honouree Speaker, Generation Tatler Awardee, and Sequoia Capital Spark Fellow. She also sits on the board of various international schools..

Sahny graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University’s College of Arts and Sciences with a Bachelor of Science in philosophy and economics, with honors in philosophy. 

Alexandra Scott (NHS’10, MSFS’15), President, Global Environment and Technology Foundation; Washington D.C., United States of America

Alexandra Scott is the president of the Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating social impact through public-private partnerships around the world. She drives strategy and growth across the organization, focusing on GETF’s growing health practice and serves as managing director for Project Last Mile (PLM), a partnership between USAID; The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; The Global Fund; and the Coca-Cola Company and its foundation, a leading example of how private sector engagement can strengthen health systems leveraging private sector expertise in Africa. 

Scott has 15 years of experience across global health, corporate social impact, and international development, with a focus on building and managing cross-sector partnerships for social impact in emerging markets.

She holds a B.S. in international health from the Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies and a master’s in Global Human Development from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she is an adjunct professor. 

Award winners of the inaugural Georgetown Baratta Center Global Impact Award will be formally recognized during an Awards Reception at the Future of Global Business Conference on October 8, 2024. 

We invite you to join us in celebrating these outstanding young alumni on their profound impact across the world. Register for the conference.

– Joe Jasper, associate director of marketing and events at the Baratta Center for Global Business