Raj Thakkar

Raj Thakkar is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service at NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He is widely considered a national expert on charter school finance, is a social entrepreneur committed to the fiscal solvency of charter schools. In 2006, he founded Charter School Business Management (CSBM), proclaimed by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies of 2013, to prevent charter schools from being closed due to financial mismanagement. CSBM, a Certified B Corporation dedicated to using business to solve social problems, currently manages over $600 million in public funds providing over 150 clients with the financial “peace of mind” needed to focus on the crucial work of educating students. These services include management of a school’s accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, budgeting, financial reporting, forecasting and audit preparation responsibilities. For three years in a row, Crain’s New York named CSBM one of the Best Places to Work in NYC. In recognition of CSBM’s impact, Mr. Thakkar was named one of the 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center, one of the Top Entrepreneurs of 2013 by Crain’s magazine and the Small Business Person of the Year for the NY district by the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2011. He is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, an initiative to help small businesses grow responsibly. In order to continue making a positive impact in New York City, Mr. Thakkar recently launched a second brand, FOREsight Financial Services For Good, which empowers other types of nonprofits with the financial knowledge and services they need to develop and maintain fiscal solvency.

He received his Bachelors in Engineering Science from Hofstra University and MBA in Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business. His parents who were entrepreneurs came to the U.S. to pursue better educational opportunities for him and his sibling. Today, Mr. Thakkar is grateful for the ability to honor his parents by helping other parents and entrepreneurs to do the same.