Lakshmi Viswanathan is the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Yunus Social Business Global Initiatives.

At YSB, Lakshmi is responsible for overseeing the worldwide investment and portfolio management activities as well as building and training the investment team. Before joining YSB, Lakshmi was an independent consultant after a stint as an entrepreneur in India. Lakshmi was also for several years Vice President (Strategy & Operational Excellence) at Sodexo SA. She also has several years as a strategy consultant, at McKinsey and as an independent advisor. Lakshmi has extensive international development and impact investing experience having worked in Sub Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia.

She holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business, Michigan and a Bachelors in English Literature from Osmania University.