Anju Bhargava is a Management Consultant/former Banker and an award winning Community Builder.  She has held senior level positions in commercial banks, financial institutions, public multinational corporations and the U.S. government.  

Anju has worked at Bear Stearns Asset Management, BB&T Bank, IBM Global Services, Fleet Bank, NatWest USA, Chase Manhattan Bank and consulted for diverse clients including Johnson & Johnson, Booz Allen, MONY, US government agencies.  She has extensive experience in Risk Management, Business Transformation Consulting, Project Management (strategic and tactical), Relationship Management (handling territory/clients), new product research and process re-engineering, and creative thought leadership.

Anju’ s internationally cited research of NatWest USA Bank's Loan loss experience (with Enterprise Risk Management concepts), published by The RMA Journal, received recognition from the Office of the Comptroller of Currency.  She also received Fleet Bank’s “Strategies for Success” award for identifying new marketing channels.

Over the last two decades as a change catalyst pioneer and social entrepreneur she has worked to “make a difference” on many fronts. 

Community:

In the community arena, Anju served as a Community Builder Fellow, for President Clinton’s White House initiative (1998-2000) where she fostered partnerships, facilitated economic, workforce and business development leading to employment of over 100 people. She was recognized by the Partnership for New Jersey and Governor Whitman’s Office.  In 2006, she initiated Utsava, the 1st Festival of India in Winston Salem, NC, an event linked with Winston Salem's strategic direction to revitalize downtown and enhance bio-science workforce development, and with North Carolina's global education vision and goals for school children.

Anju initiated/developed the 1st Indian-American women’s organization in North America, Asian Indian Women in America (AIWA) in 1981, which, with the City of New York, organized the 1st job fair for new underserved communities in 1986; the 1st networking forum in New York for South Asians in Corporate America in 1988; with Asia Society, the 1st leadership symposium "Connecting with America" for South Asian American Women in 1999. She is a founding member of NJ Corporate Diversity Network, an initiative formed with Partnership for New Jersey to "maximize effectiveness of diversity initiatives to enhance business results and positively affect our communities and the economy".

She co-started Asian Indians in Livingston and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. initiative. She volunteers at St. Barnanbas Pastoral Care Department and Livingston’s Interfaith Clergy Association.  She is one of the first Hindu woman priest in New Jersey.

Education:

Anju has published papers, conducted workshops and made presentations at many universities and has appeared on numerous TV programs in the U.S. and in India. She is a graduate of Stella Maris College, Madras University, India and Rutgers University, with training at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Kellogg, Graduate School of Management.