Amitav Banerji

Biographical Information

Amitav was born in 1953. After graduating from Georgetown University and then obtaining a Masters from the Delhi School of Economics, he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1975 where he served in different capacities for 15 years, including postings to Spain, Pakistan and Malaysia and the Indian Mission to the UN in New York. He also served as Private Secretary to the Minister of External Affairs in New Delhi.

From August 1990 to May 2015, Amitav worked in different roles for the Commonwealth Secretariat, including as Head of the Secretary-General’s Office and thereafter as the organisation’s Political Director. In both capacities he worked closely with a number of Heads of State/Government, Foreign Ministers and chiefs of election management bodies of member states.

He is fluent in English, French, Spanish, Hindi, Bengali and Urdu.

Amitav took up his appointment as Projects Director of the Global Leadership Foundation on 08 June 2015.