Yogesh Rajkotia

Founder, currently working in USA

About our founder

Dr. Yogesh Rajkotia founded ThinkWell in 2011 to support human capital development around the world. Convinced that a break from the status quo of development assistance was urgently needed, Dr. Rajkotia founded ThinkWell to be a disruptive, creative agent for change.

An entrepreneur at heart, Dr. Rajkotia enjoys the relentless pursuit of ideas and innovations to spark transformation in health systems. With this spirit, he has supported major health systems reforms in over 25 countries and served as advisor to ministers and secretaries around the world. Dr. Rajkotia provided leadership to USAID’s global health systems strengthening efforts, where he oversaw the Agency’s $45 million health portfolio in Rwanda and its $125M global Health Systems 20/20 program. He has consulted for many organizations including WHO, GAVI, and World Bank.

Dr. Rajkotia is well published and is frequently asked to speak to distinguished audiences around the world. He was recognized as a Rockefeller Social Innovation Fellow in 2013. He holds a doctorate degree in health economics from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in health policy from the London School of Economics.

Selected Publications and Presentations

Beware of the success cartel: a plea for rational progress in global health, BMJ Global Health

International Development Doesn’t Care About Patient Privacy, Stanford Social Innovation Review

Pragmatism, Not Ideology, Must Drive Health Systems Development, Health Affairs

Is SMART the new stupid? Health worker perspectives on producing PBF indicators, Sociedade e Cultura

The Good, the Bad, and the Disruptive of Performance- Based Financing on the Mozambican Health System: Results from a process evaluation, Sociedade e Cultura

The effect of a performance-based financing program on HIV and maternal/child health services in Mozambique—an impact evaluation, Health Policy and Planning

Scaling Innovation for Strong Upazilla Health Systems in Bangladesh

Does household enrolment reduce adverse selection in a voluntary health insurance system?, Health Policy and Planning

"We must go beyond the risk-averse mindset that permeates foreign assistance if we want to have meaningful impact. That's why ThinkWell exists -- to take risks and bring innovative approaches to health systems development."

3

Kids under 10

30

Countries worked in

200

Scuba dives logged

0

Ideologies pushed