About

This is an archive of writing that’s appeared elsewhere, plus older essays from when this blog was active.

I’m Gautam John. After twenty years of dreaming and doing to make a difference as a civil society leader in India — most recently as CEO of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies — I’m now writing my first book.

Unheroic: Leadership in the Age of Uncertainty is forthcoming. You can read more about it at unheroic.is, where you can also leave your email to be told when it’s out.

Earlier in my career I was at the Akshara Foundation building the Karnataka Learning Partnership, and at Pratham Books building their open-source publishing model. I was a TED India Fellow in 2009.

The writing here is grouped by where it first appeared — IDR, Alliance Magazine, LinkedIn, Interviews & Podcasts — alongside a small archive of Older Essays from 2010–2015.