New Delhi: Mrs. Smriti Irani’s upcoming engagements at five of the United States’ leading universities — Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Arizona State University, and Kellogg — take place at a time of renewed global focus on leadership, inclusion, and institutional resilience. These forums are not only centres of academic excellence, but also key environments where the next generation of policy thinking, economic cooperation, and social innovation is being actively shaped.
As a public figure whose work spans governance, media, political organisation, and international cooperation, Mrs. Irani has been invited in recognition of the value that lived policymaking experience brings to global discourse. Her career has engaged deeply with systems — from national nutrition programmes and digital infrastructure to skilling and workforce participation — offering insight into the mechanics of large-scale implementation and reform. In her role as Chairperson of the Alliance for Global Good: Gender Equity and Equality, she continues to work at the intersection of multilateral dialogue and grounded public policy.
This visit reflects a broader intent: to contribute to a generative exchange between practice and research, and to explore how shared challenges can be addressed through collaborative, cross-sector dialogue.
Engagement Highlights
April 12 | Harvard Kennedy School – Women in Power Conference
Mrs. Irani will participate in “Breaking the Mold: Women Leading in Politics”, a flagship panel at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Women in Power Conference. Now in its eighth year, the conference brings together public leaders working at the intersections of governance, equity, health, and global development.
Drawing from two decades in public life, Mrs. Irani will share insights on leadership in democratic systems, the navigation of institutional structures, and how women’s political participation can actively reshape policy outcomes — particularly in countries with complex social and demographic realities.
April 16 | UC Berkeley – IPEF Dialogue and SkyDeck Innovation Tour
At the India Policy Economy Forum, Mrs. Irani will be in conversation with Professor Pradeep Chhibber on India’s emerging policy frameworks in the context of economic transformation, public delivery systems, and digital infrastructure. The session will explore the evolution of India’s approach to inclusive growth — and how cross-sector insights can inform global thinking around governance and innovation.
Later that day, she will engage with founders and researchers at SkyDeck, UC Berkeley’s global startup accelerator. With a portfolio of over 200 high-growth ventures and more than $2 billion in collective funding, SkyDeck is a key node in the international entrepreneurial ecosystem. The visit will focus on how policy and innovation can intersect to enable greater participation, particularly among women and underrepresented communities.
April 17 | Arizona State University – Launch of the India Policy and Economy Research Club (PIERA)
At Arizona State University, Mrs. Irani will join students and faculty for the launch of PIERA — a platform created to deepen academic engagement on India’s economic policy, innovation landscape, and development priorities.
The session will feature voices from across government and industry, including Dr. Vivek Lall (General Atomics Global Corporation), Dr. Michael Crow (President, ASU), and Dr. K. Srikar Reddy (Consul General of India, San Francisco). It will be an interactive dialogue, focusing on long-term academic exchange, sectoral cooperation, and India’s evolving role as a strategic partner in higher education and knowledge diplomacy.
April 18 | Stanford University – Future of Work for Women Summit
At Stanford, Mrs. Irani will deliver a keynote address alongside Professor Rohini Pande of Yale University. The summit convenes policymakers, academics, and business leaders to examine the evolving architecture of women’s work — and the levers that can unlock greater participation in a changing global economy.
Her address will explore the business case for gender equity, drawing on India’s experience in expanding financial inclusion, digital access, and skill-building opportunities. She will speak to how intentional policy design — grounded in data, collaboration, and public-private alignment — can translate inclusion into tangible economic gains, and how global partnerships can amplify this impact.
April 19 | Kellogg School of Management – India Business Conference
At Kellogg, Mrs. Irani will join business and policy leaders at the India Business Conference, where the focus this year is on “India Forward: Supercharging Global Growth in the Next Decade.” Her remarks will focus on the infrastructure of inclusion behind India’s economic momentum — from digital innovation and institutional reform to the advancement of women entrepreneurs and MSMEs.
Drawing from her own experience in policy leadership, she will offer perspective on how India is aligning its demographic and digital strengths to drive inclusive, sustainable growth — and what this means for global investors, partners, and institutions working in and with India.
Strategic Importance
These engagements represent an opportunity to connect practical governance experience with evolving academic and innovation ecosystems — not as a template, but as a perspective shaped by navigating complexity, scale, and reform. Mrs. Irani’s participation brings into focus the value of sustained public leadership in environments where the future of policy, technology, and inclusion is being actively examined.
As the global development agenda increasingly intersects with questions of gender, work, digital transformation, and institutional trust, there is growing relevance in sharing cross-sector experiences — particularly those drawn from implementation, not abstraction. These dialogues make space for that kind of exchange: grounded, reflective, and open to learning.
The visit also serves as a reminder of the importance of continuity — of building conversations that extend beyond moments and across disciplines. In doing so, it contributes to a wider effort to shape collaborative, future-oriented responses to challenges that are shared, structural, and deeply interconnected.
