About Sharmila Rao Thakkar

Sharmila Rao Thakkar, MPH, MPA, is a philanthropy and nonprofit consultant at SRT Advising & Consulting in New York City. She has been working and volunteering in the nonprofit sector for 20+ years. From her early days as a grade school hospital candy-striper to tutoring children as a teenager, building programs earlier in her career and now mentoring young professionals and guiding families & organizations, she holds a keen awareness and passion for nonprofit/philanthropy work. Utilizing expertise in leadership development, program implementation, resource development, and communications, she advises donors, families, and organizations on operations, strategy, board governance/development, multigenerational engagement, grantmaking, and community outreach activities; conducts workshops and training; and writes and presents at nonprofit and philanthropy forums. She also serves as an affiliate consultant with the Support Center, program director with the Staten Island Not for Profit Association/Community Organizations Active in Disaster coalition, associate instructor in the nonprofit management master’s program at Columbia University, 21/64 certified trainer in multigenerational philanthropy, and mentor for philanthropy/nonprofit leadership development programs.

Prior, Sharmila was appointed the first non-family executive director of The Siragusa Family Foundation in Chicago, where she directed the operational, programmatic and administrative functions of the organization, participating in all roles key to running a charitable endeavor. She guided board funding decisions and evaluated programs in health, social services, education and the arts for youth/families; provided capacity building and technical assistance to 100+ nonprofit grantee partners; built the board’s professionalism including recruitment and assessment; engaged the next generations in their leadership development; and provided strategic direction on grantmaking and grantee outreach and community partnership initiatives.

Sharmila has held leadership roles on several boards and committees involving issues of women and children, immigrant communities, education, and public health, and building philanthropic leadership and the capacity of the nonprofit sector including currently the Healthy Schools Campaign, Move Forward Staten Island, National Center for Family Philanthropy, National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers, TrueChild and the South Asian Philanthropy Project. She is also an alum of the Council on Foundations Career Pathways leadership development program and The Funders Network for Smart Growth and Equity PLACES fellowship.

A native New Yorker, Sharmila relocated back to Staten Island, NY in 2016 after spending nearly 17 years in Chicago. She holds a Master of Public Health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, a Master of Public Administration from the Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Brown University.