Rajiv Vinnakota

Overview

Raj grew up in Milwaukee Wisconsin. His parents who had immigrated from India were devoted to Raj receiving a quality education and instilled in him their belief that a good education was the way up and out of poverty. Raj attended Princeton University from which he received a B.S. in Molecular Biology as well as certificate of studies from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy. Raj s first job after college was as a management consultant with Mercer Management Consulting. However Raj s training as a scientist continued to shape his world view. After a conversation with friends about the challenges of educating urban at risk students Raj developed a scientific hypothesis that underserved children when provided with a 24 hour supportive academically rigorous environment could achieve scholastic success. Soon after Raj met a management consultant from a competing company Eric Adler who also had visions of a college preparatory boarding school for urban youth. Together they founded The SEED Foundation and opened the first ever SEED School in Washington D.C. in 1998. In addition to his role as co founder and managing director of The SEED Foundation Raj serves on the executive committee of the Aspire capital campaign for Princeton University and is the former national chair for Annual Giving for his alma mater. He is also a former trustee and executive committee member for Princeton.