• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Ashvin Dayal

Rockefeller Foundation

Senior Vice President, Power & Climate Initiative

Ashvin Dayal is Senior Vice President at The Rockefeller Foundation where he leads the Power and Climate program.  Ashvin has overseen investments in urban climate change resilience and distributed renewable energy, including leading the establishment of local dedicated platforms to expand clean energy access such as Smart Power India and Smart Power Myanmar. Most recently, he led the creation of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, a multi-billion-dollar effort supported by major philanthropies, development investors, and specialized energy organizations aimed at advancing transformational projects on distributed renewable electrification, grid-tied renewables, and fossil fuel transitions in 80+ energy-poor nations. Prior to his work with The Rockefeller Foundation, Ashvin held several senior leadership roles over the course of his 15-year tenure with Oxfam in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. This included leading its largest-ever relief and recovery effort in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, and the creation of Oxfam India.

Sessions With Ashvin Dayal

Thursday, 12 March

  • 10:30am - 11:20am (CST) / -

    Bringing Electricity to Underserved Populations
    Power & Renewables

    Among the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 by all 193 United Nations member states was “universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services by 2030.” For decades, however, numerous institutions have attempted to solve the issue of energy access across sub-Saharan Africa, India, and developing Asia, yet few have seen progress. The situation in Africa is particularly intractable; in 2030 the region is projected to still account for 90% of the global population without electricity access. Which approaches to ensuring energy access have worked—and which haven’t? How should governments, the private sector, and development organizations collaborate while avoiding the creation of detrimental dependencies on foreign aid and international debt? To what extent should environmental considerations be weighed? What technologies and business models can be gainfully adopted to accelerate energy access?