Oopali Operajita

Oopali Operajita is a Senior Adviser to world leaders on Public Policy and International Affairs, a Planetary Woman Hero, polymath and a leading and celebrated Indian Odissi and Bharatanatyam classical dancer and choreographer.

Oopali Operajita went to Rishi Valley School. She was educated at Delhi University, Dalhousie University, Canada, where she was a (Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar) and Carnegie Mellon University, USA. She is a daughter of legendary Indian educators and public intellectuals, Professor Bidhu Bhusan Das and Professor Prabhat Nalini Das. At Rishi Valley, she became the god daughter of noted Indian actress, Leela Naidu.

She is a Distinguished Faculty Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University, where she was appointed in 1990, by its legendary founder President Dr. Richard Cyert, and a Senior Adviser to several of India's prominent leaders in the Lok Sabha. She is also Chair and Founder of Asia's first Sustainable Technology Venture Competition, since 2007, which brings new, clean and sustainable technologies to market through entrepreneurship, to enhance sustainability on the planet. The competition has become a movement, and has a footprint of some 60,000 students worldwide. Its academic partners are India's fabled Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).