Dr Sharon M Ravitch, a SCoPE Scholar for Social Impact Design at Anant, is a distinguished global leadership and organisational diagnostics authority. Her expertise lies in collaborating with leaders, teams and organisations to foster organisational sensemaking strategies to achieve cultural and inclusive excellence. Dr Ravitch is renowned for her role in instructing and mentoring executives across various sectors and international settings. She is notably recognised for her contributions to designing and implementing leadership development programmes for global leaders at the Executive Education hub of Wharton Business School.

At Anant National University, she serves as a SCoPE Scholar in Social Impact Design, closely collaborating with Indigenous leaders throughout India and focusing on understanding and leveraging tribal knowledge and traditional systems. Her work aims to facilitate the adoption and dissemination of sustainable climate solutions and livelihood innovations.

Dr Ravitch has a PhD in Education, Culture and Society from the University of Pennsylvania and two master’s degrees from Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology and Education, mentored by Dr Carol Gilligan.

She holds the prestigious title of GIAN Scholar appointed by the Government of India. She is also a founding member of the Eighth Fire Collective, a participatory initiative led by Indigenous communities. The Collective focuses on developing an innovative online platform for exchanging Indigenous knowledge, practices and stories. This platform is designed as an entrepreneurial learning ecosystem, connecting businesses interested in integrating Indigenous Earth knowledge with skilled tribal teams. These teams consist of knowledge keepers, entrepreneurs, Earth protection certifiers and storytellers across generations. Together, they collaborate to foster, innovate and disseminate sustainable climate and livelihood solutions.

Dr Ravitch serves as the Principal Investigator of Semillas Digitales, an educational programme implemented in the coffee-producing regions of Nicaragua. This initiative is dedicated to advancing a comprehensive model of educational innovation. It emphasises enriching pedagogical and curricular practices, fostering intensive inquiry-based professional development for teachers, integrating technology and enhancing digital literacy. Central to the programme’s approach are community partnerships guided by active collaboration, mutual capacity building and participatory methods of engagement and evaluation.

Her methodology in sustainable, assets-based organisational development and applied research draws from her extensive experience spanning decades. She has served as a senior advisor to global leaders and policymakers in government, corporate, non-profit and non-governmental sectors. Her focus lies in advancing equitable and sustainable transformations at the levels of individuals, communities, states and nations.

Dr Ravitch’s US-based leader and organisational development work focuses on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) and adaptive leadership. Her work engages government officials, non-governmental organisations, educational leaders and teams, corporate leaders and teams, boards and higher education programmes and faculties.

Her international endeavours in applied research, research design and methodology are centred on several key areas. These include design thinking and emergent design research, holistic impact evaluation and assessment, workplace research encompassing design, implementation and analysis and research involving leaders, systems, organisations, and practitioners. Her work emphasises evidence-based learning and professional development, as well as multimodal storytelling and data repositories focusing on data sovereignty.

Additionally, Dr Ravitch’s efforts extend to organisational storytelling and rapid-cycle inquiry, aiming to bridge Western and Indigenous epistemologies, designs and methodologies. She engages in participatory action research within organisations and communities alongside trauma-informed and healing-centred approaches to organisational and community research.

In 2021, Dr Ravitch was selected as a faculty recipient of the Recognition of Outstanding Service Award to honour her dedication to providing a nurturing and supportive environment for students, staff and faculty.