Operations & Strategy

Making slow
change happen
faster.

Malini Srikrishna builds the systems, teams, and structures that turn ambitious ideas into lasting outcomes across education, health, finance, media, supply chain, and technology.

Based in United States
Education Harvard University
Current Cavela
Malini Srikrishna
Scroll
5+
Industries shaped: education, health, finance, media, supply chain, and technology
1M+
End users reached across product launches
7+
Years building operations across global organizations
100+
Global grassroots organizations mobilized for change

Vision into strategy.
Strategy into impact.

Operations Systems Design Supply Chain Partnerships Program Management Entrepreneurship Social Innovation Team Leadership Change Management

Malini Srikrishna is an operations executive, founder, and systems builder with a decade of experience turning complex, high-stakes ideas into measurable outcomes. She has led initiatives across education, health, finance, media, supply chain, and technology, building the structures that let organisations move from intention to impact.

A Harvard Divinity School graduate and Morrill Scholar, Malini brings a rare combination of analytical rigour and human-centred thinking. She understands that great operations aren't just about efficiency; they're about creating the conditions where people and ideas thrive.

She founded Milan Global, spun out of the Harvard Innovation Labs, to provide business, storytelling, technology, and capacity-building services to impactful startups, organisations, and leaders around the world. She has also served as Vice President of Global Operations at NxGen COACH Network™ and Director of Partnerships at the Harvard Alumni for Global Development. Running operations at Cavela, she built systems from scratch to automate end-to-end sourcing and supply chain processes for brands worldwide.

Across every context she has worked in, the pattern is the same: Malini is the person who makes things actually happen.

Where she has
made it happen.

From global leadership networks to Harvard-backed accelerators, from conference launches to youth education platforms. Malini's track record spans organisations of every size, sector, and geography.

Cavela
Operations
Manages day-to-day operations, oversees accounts and sourcing, and creates automations and workflows to make technology more automated, managing the supplier network and delivering product to customers. Oversees strategy and goal management.
2025 – Present
Milan Global
Founder and COO
Founded and scaled Milan Global, an interdisciplinary firm spun out of the Harvard Innovation Labs, to deliver business strategy, storytelling, technology, and capacity-building services to impactful startups, nonprofits, and leaders worldwide. Built the operational infrastructure from the ground up: strategy, goal-setting, team management, quality assurance, and growth systems.
Led hundreds of initiatives across the globe; designed systems that deliver human-centered, sustainable outcomes at scale.
2019 – 2025
NxGen COACH Network™
VP, Global Operations
Oversaw global operations, product development, and programming for this leadership development firm dedicated to Creating Opportunity And Cultivating Humanity with underrepresented talent. Managed end-to-end operational accountability across international teams and programme delivery.
Stabilised and scaled a global leadership development operation serving underrepresented talent worldwide.
2023 – 2024
Harvard Alumni for Global Development
Director of Partnerships
Built and managed a portfolio of strategic partnerships across a global alumni network, connecting Harvard's intellectual capital with development initiatives around the world. Identified and cultivated relationships that translated into concrete programmes and outcomes.
Expanded HAGD's reach through a curated network of 100+ grassroots organisations across global geographies.
Harvard
Aspire Institute / Mittal Institute - Harvard University
Program & Communications Lead
Provided communication and programme support for the Crossroads Emerging Leaders Program (now Aspire Institute) at the Lakshmi Mittal & Family South Asia Institute at Harvard. Personally mobilised 100+ grassroots organisations globally to onboard first-generation students into the programme.
Drove outreach that directly expanded access and opportunity for first-generation students globally.
Harvard

What she
brings to the table.

Malini's value isn't a single skill; it's the rare ability to operate across the full stack of building something: from strategy to systems, from team to execution, from stakeholders to outcomes.

01
Operations Architecture
Designing the systems, processes, and structures that allow organisations to scale without losing coherence. From goal-setting frameworks to quality assurance, she builds operations that hold.
02
Supply Chain
Managing supplier networks across multiple geographies, from strategic sourcing to end-to-end supply chain visibility. She drives operational efficiency and resilience, turning complex logistics into a competitive advantage.
03
Strategic Partnerships
Building the relationships and networks that extend an organisation's reach and capacity. Her work at HAGD and beyond demonstrates a talent for turning connections into concrete outcomes.
04
Team Leadership
Managing distributed, cross-functional teams with clarity and accountability. She creates environments where people step up, then gets out of the way so they can.
05
Change & Crisis Management
Steady in disruption. Whether navigating institutional crisis or organisational transformation, Malini brings the calm, strategic thinking that keeps things moving forward.
06
Storytelling & Brand
Effective operations begin with a compelling narrative. Malini combines strategic communication with operational delivery, making sure the work is seen as clearly as it is done.
"You can't serve the world well
if your own house isn't in order."

Great operations are not a backstage function. They are the main event. Every outcome Malini has delivered, from conference launches to global network expansions, rests on the same foundation: systems designed for humans, not just for efficiency.

Clarity before action
Ambiguity is expensive. Before anything else, define the goal, the constraints, and the measures of success. Then move fast.
People are the system
Every process depends on the people who run it. Invest in them first. Customer-centricity starts on the inside.
Trust as infrastructure
High-performing teams run on trust. Build it deliberately, protect it fiercely, and everything else becomes easier.
Enable, don't control
The best leaders architect conditions where others thrive, then step back. That's what sustainable scale actually looks like.

Let's build
something
worth building.

Whether you're launching something new, scaling something that's working, or fixing something that isn't; Malini brings the operational expertise to make it happen. Reach out to start a conversation.