Shami started her impact journey with Villgro USA, managing the Incubating Incubators‘Incubator’ refers to any organization whose programs primarily focus on vetting and selecting, promising social enterprises, and providing them with a comprehensive range of support services aimed at building and growing them to achieve maximum sustainable impact. Programme. In 2023, as the strategy evolved from a capacity-building approach to a member-led network model, she played a key role in gathering stakeholders’ voices during the design and co-creation process for Pollinate Impact. She was instrumental in operationalising the network blueprint and bridging key learnings from Villgro USA into the execution of Pollinate Impact.

Now, as Network Catalyst, she turns big ideas into shared action: building strategic partnerships, leading our Tool Library initiative, and championing the use of shared tools and systems across the network. If there’s a Pollinate Impact spreadsheet that makes your work easier or a behind-the-scenes process that just works, chances are she helped make it happen.

With a background in Electrical Engineering and over 15 years of experience spanning software development, project management, process design, and network weaving, Shami brings a deeply technical yet human-centred approach to ecosystem building. She stumbled into the impact sector by accident and is now passionate about creating intentional pathways for new talent to enter it.

Shami believes that collective generosity is one of the most underused superpowers in the ecosystem. Her challenge is to help incubators‘Incubator’ refers to any organization whose programs primarily focus on vetting and selecting, promising social enterprises, and providing them with a comprehensive range of support services aimed at building and growing them to achieve maximum sustainable impact. move beyond “mine” and toward “ours”—to build a future where tools, learnings, and energy are shared for the benefit of all.

When she is not working, you’ll find her listening to Bollywood music, cooking and experimenting with new recipes in her kitchen.