Karan Chopra is executive vice president and co-founder at Opportunity@Work, a civic enterprise which aims to re-wire the U.S. labor market in ways that enable more Americans to achieve upward mobility in the job market and workplace, to facilitate collective investment by employers to develop the talent they need to succeed and grow, and to scale up promising innovations which unlock more fully the potential of all people for higher-value, meaningful work as a source of economic opportunity and national competitive advantage. From 2015-2016, Opportunity@Work was based at New America.
Prior to becoming partner at Opportunity@Work, Chopra was the co-founder and director of Global Agri-Development Company (GADCO), a vertically-integrated agri-food business engaged in the production, processing and marketing of basic food products in sub-Saharan Africa backed by global investors and institutions. He co-led the company from business plan to building and operating the largest rice farm in Ghana, developing a processing center and launching a packaged food brand that contributed to domestic food security in Ghana and impacted the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. GADCO was sold to a larger strategic buyer in agribusiness with an aligned vision for developing sustainable livelihoods through markets.
Chopra is also the co-founder of West Africa Vocational Education (WAVE), a social venture tackling youth unemployment in Nigeria and backed by leading venture philanthropy groups. WAVE is empowering West African youth with industry relevant skills and access to jobs while improving outcomes for employers. Prior to this, Chopra was at McKinsey & Company where he was awarded the social sector fellowship. He advised clients across sectors (Fortune 500 companies, governments, leading philanthropic organizations) primarily on market-based and scalable solutions for broad-based economic development and on U.S. education. Prior to this, Chopra was a software developer with Siemens.
Chopra holds a BS in electrical engineering with highest honors from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Harvard Business School with high distinction graduating as a Baker Scholar. Chopra was named in the 2014 list of Forbes 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine and selected as a New Voices Fellow at the Aspen Institute.