Dr Ketan Deshpande

Dr Ketan Deshpande

Dr Ketan Deshpande is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Friends Union for Energising Lives (FUEL), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to improving youth employability through career guidance, skill development, higher education and entrepreneurship. Since founding FUEL in 2007 at the age of nineteen, he has led initiatives that have impacted over one million young people across India in partnership with governments, academic institutions and leading corporations.

He is the Founder of FUEL SkillTech University, India's first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funded SkillTech University, established to make industry-aligned higher education accessible to underserved youth while creating pathways to employment and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Deshpande holds a PhD in Corporate Social Responsibility. His current work focuses on building sustainable public-private partnerships that bridge education, skills and livelihoods. His flagship initiatives include Future Skills certification, financial literacy, career guidance, entrepreneurship development, and CSR-endowed schools within FUEL SkillTech University.

Dr Deshpande is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. He is also an Ashoka Fellow and the recipient of several national honours recognising his contributions to education, social innovation and youth empowerment.