Who We Are

Who We Are

All our associates and partners are global citizens. Most have lived in multiple countries, carry more than one passport and speak several languages. Our associates are distinguished by their global engagements that span social development, private sector and traditional consulting.

Suresh Kumar, President and Managing Partner

Mr. Kumar has returned to following a leave of absence to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service in the Obama Administration.

Suresh has served as an advisor and consultant to the Clinton Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and business enterprises. Prior to founding KaiZen Innovation in 2004 Suresh served on the Group Operating Committee of Johnson & Johnson with responsibility for Worldwide Consumer Pharmaceuticals. Earlier, he led the Emerging Markets business at Pfizer/Warner Lambert as Vice President, Consumer Products, Latin America and Asia.

Suresh has a B.A. in Economics from Delhi University and an MBA from Bombay University in India. He serves on the Global Council of the Thunderbird School of Global Management where he was named Distinguished Executive-in-Residence for his extensive management service to make "global happen". He serves on the Advisory Boards of Dalberg Development Advisors and Tiara International Consulting, LLC.

Mukul Bafana, Associate

Mukul specializes in global development, corporate & business strategy, and international finance. Alongside a career in private equity and consulting, Mukul has pursued his passion for development in Africa & the Middle East.

Mukul supports global deal transactions at a top tier private equity firm. While at McKinsey & Co. he served global clients on strategy, supply chain management, marketing finance, and operations. As part of a post merger integration team he helped align go-to-market approach for a major consumer packaged goods client. Mukul also supported the Clinton Foundation fertilizer supply initiatives team in Africa.

Mukul received his BBA in Finance & Information Systems from the University of Michigan.

John A. Feist, Principal

John brings a diverse background in Information Technology and Banking.

He served as Senior Director for Information Technology in the Global Trading and Treasury businesses at American Express Bank. Prior to being named a Senior Director, John was the Director of Credit Systems and Administration where he was also certified as a credit analyst. While at American Express, John worked extenisvely with colleagues around the world developing appropriate solutions to business challenges.

John came to American Express as an IT consultant having previously provided consulting services to companies including Xerox, Exxon, Schering Plough, SPX and AT&T.

John has a BA in Government from St Lawrence University and an MBA from SUNY Albany. He is also a certified yoga teacher.

Corinne Low, Associate

Corinne specializes in global development and economic policy. She is an economics PhD candidate in international development at Columbia University.

Corinne previously worked at McKinsey and Co. serving clients in the agriculture and financial services practices. She has worked on a government-sponsored economic development project in the Middle East and on health policy and public affairs with the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Corrine received her BS in Economics and Public Policy from Duke University.

Deji Olukotun, Associate

Deji Olukotun is a lawyer who specializes in international law and negotiations, human rights and conflict resolution. . His has been admitted to the bar in California, New Jersey, and NY (pending) and counsels nonprofit and commercial clients.

Deji worked at the law firm of Latham & Watkins in the USA. He directed a United Nations partner project on refugee empowerment and provided legal services to asylum seekers at the University of Cape Town Law Clinic. Deji is also engaged in intellectual property, copyright, patent, and art law.

Deji has lived in Brazil, France and South Africa and speaks French and Portuguese. He received his BA from Yale, his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cape Town. Deji is the author of two novels

Avik Roy, Network Associate

Avik works with leadership teams at small and mid size companies to identify technology led pathways and e-enabled solutions to growth. He is also engaged in identifying, developing and conveying technology based solutions to business development challenges.

Avik served as the Senior Vice-President of Corporate Development and Operations at Kaplan EduNeering. He has also held leadership and consulting roles at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ernst & Young LLP, and McKinsey & Co. Avik is a co-founder of MedAvante, a Goldman Sachs financed startup providing services to improve the conduct of neuroscience clinical trials.

Avik has an MBA from Wharton, MS degrees in planning and design from Harvard and MIT, and a Bachelor of Architecture from The School of Planning and Architecture in India.

Harbhajan Singh, Associate

HB is an agronomist who has worked in the private sector, multi lateral institutions and in consulting organizations. He specializes in market, small and medium enterprises (SME) and dealer development, establishing superior trade practices and strengthening trade associations in Asia and Africa.

HB’s career in India focused on supply chain and channel development for agriculture products. As Vice President he was responsible for the Birla Group’s fertilizer businesses in Asia and Europe. HB spent a decade in Zambia and Zimbabwe serving as Chief Technical Director at Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Marketing Advisor to the African Centre for Fertilizer Development. He has led projects on market and intervention assessment, privatization and establishing efficient input delivery systems in East and West Africa for the International Fertilizer Development Corporation (IFDC).

HB has a Bachelor and Masters degree in Agriculture, post graduate diploma in International Marketing and a Ph.D in Business Administration from Punjab University in India.