CollegeDekho appoints Kavita Azad as Chief Human Resource Officer and Manish Kohli as Senior Vice President of Operations

CollegeDekho, India’s largest student counselling and admissions platform has announced two new appointments to its senior leadership roles in a move to continue its mission to provide premiere higher education solutions and maintain its position as a market leader in the same category. Kavita Azad has joined CollegeDekho as the Chief Human Resource Officer and will help the EdTech major to further build on the company culture and capabilities.

Manish Kohli has joined as the Senior Vice President of Operations and will lead the service delivery teams along with innovation practices across B2B and B2C business verticals. Both the leaders come with a rich experience in multiple industries including Financial Services, BPO, Consulting, Telecom, Media, IT/ ITES and eCommerce for over 20 years.

On the two industry stalwarts joining CollegeDekho, Ruchir Arora, Co-Founder & CEO, CollegeDekho, said, “I am excited to onboard Kavita and Manish on our growth journey. They both come with a diverse experience from versatile industries and will help build an innovation-driven culture and implement effective scaling for strategic growth.”

A seasoned HR leader, Kavita comes with over 20 years of experience across multiple industries including Financial Services, Consulting, Telecom, IT/ ITES, and eCommerce. She has been associated with organisations such as Bharti, Convergys, American Express, British Telecom and eClerx. Kavita has worked on a wide range of human resource disciplines that include building Talent Strategy, being a Strategic HR Business Advisor, leading Organisation Design, Employee Experience, Leadership Development, Capability Building, HR Services and Talent Acquisition functions. In her current role with CollegeDekho, Kavita will focus on building a great work culture through a successful talent strategy impacting employee engagement and overall business growth.

Talking about her role in CollegeDekho, Kavita Azad, Chief Human Resource Officer, CollegeDekho said, “I am excited to be a part of the company’s growth journey and looking forward to using the best of my entrepreneurial and HR expertise to build on the company culture, strengthen CollegeDekho’s position as an employer of choice and enhance the organisational performance and capabilities.”

Manish comes with a proven track record and a sharp focus on scalability with Fortune 100 organisations and brings a blend of experience in P&L management, Process Design, Strategy & Execution, Client Servicing, Transitions and Account Mining. He was associated with organisations such as GE Capital, American Express, Dell, and Tata Business support services in the past. Since 2019, Manish has been mentoring startups and mid-size organisations in supply chain, BPO, Equity investment and FinTech firms to boost their business through effective strategies in the industry. At CollegeDekho, Manish will strategically work with the leadership team to formulate & implement effective processes to instil strong operating & process rigour and drive key metrics & SLAs with a focus on driving change & excellence.

Manish Kohli, Senior Vice President of Operations, CollegeDekho added, “CollegeDekho’s business model and mission to transform India’s higher education ecosystem has always interested me. I am confident that my experience and multi-domain expertise, exposure in setting, scaling and stabilising business verticals with digital transformation and people management will take CollegeDekho to greater heights.”

Between 2021- 2022, CollegeDekho forayed into new business segments of Learn and Assured, whilst also acquiring GetMyUni, IELTSMaterial and PrepBytes to strengthen its product portfolio. The company has been on an exponential growth path. Kavita and Manish will play a pivotal role in driving this growth story further and will be part of a team that is passionate about scaling better and innovating effectively to solve some of the prevailing challenges of India’s higher education ecosystem.

The higher education market in India accounts for over 50% of the Indian education market, valued at US $135 billion in FY20. As an ecosystem leader, CollegeDekho is propelling a change in India’s higher education space making it more student-oriented with its portfolio of services including admissions in India, study abroad, hostel accommodation, online courses and coaching.