About Me

Janamitra DEVAN

I am a strategy and leadership advisor. I reside in Spotsylvania, Virginia.  I am currently the Senior Advisor to the World SME Forum (WSF) where I am also the Chief for Innovation. In the past I served as a VP at the World Bank Group, oversaw operations of McKinsey’s Strategy Practice and was a Senior Fellow at its think-tank, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). I am a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council (GAC) on Competitiveness and regularly speak at various conferences worldwide.

I specialize in strategy, mega trend assessments, city and industrial competitiveness, innovation, urbanization, good governance and the development of economic centers of excellence especially as they pertain to the private sector.

At the World Bank, I had a lot of fun engaging with government policy makers. I particularly enjoyed initiating new practices to promote competitive industries and innovation that the Institution had traditionally shunned! I also oversaw the WBG’s flagship Ease of Doing Business global rankings. In addition, I provided leadership for financial sector policy that built stronger, more inclusive and efficient financial systems. While at the World Bank Group, I served as its representative at the Financial Stability Board in Basel, Chaired the G8’s Global Remittances Working Group (GRWG), and chaired the Board of Governers of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

Prior to the World Bank I spent 10 years at McKinsey.  The most memorable activity there.  Well, together with some of the smartest people I have ever met, I co-led a flagship study on China’s rapid urbanization, called ‘Preparing for China’s Urban Billion.’ I also worked in DRI/McGraw Hill, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, and taught economics and corporate finance at Middlebury College in Vermont.

I obtained my B.Sc, MBA and PhD degrees at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Some favorite hobbies of mine include flying planes, getting angry on the golf course, and spending time in the garden (although, my gardening ambitions haven’t allowed me any room to boast!)