Venkatesh Geriti is an Indian

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measur ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, and

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

. He is the founder of

Swatantrata Center Venkatesh Geriti is an Indian classical liberal, anti-corruption activist, and social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Swatantrata Center and India's Future Foundation, an educational organization in Hyderabad, and a scholar at Atlas Summit. ...

and India's Future Foundation, an educational organization in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, and a scholar at Atlas Summit. Venkatesh received the

Karmaveer Chakra Award The Karmaveer Chakra Award is a global civilian honor bestowed to individuals worldwide for their unwavering bravery by the International Confederation of Non governmental Organizations (iCONGO) in collaboration with the United Nations Karmaveer C ...

and Global Fellowship Award in 2019 from the International Confederation of Non-Governmental Organizations in partnership with

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. He is a member of the

Centre for Civil Society Centre for Civil Society (CCS) is a non-profit think tank based in New Delhi. It was founded in 1997 by Dr. Parth J. Shah, former Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. It operates as an independent educational organisation. Acc ...

and an alumnus of

Foundation for Economic Education The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian economics, economic think tank. Founded in 1946 in New York City, FEE is now headquartere ...

Students For Liberty Students For Liberty (SFL) is an international libertarian 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with origins in the United States. Formed in 2008, SFL grew to a network of 1,000 student organizations worldwide by 2014.Students For Liberty"2010–201 ...

Friedrich Naumann Foundation The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom ('' German: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit e.V.; Abbreviation: FNF'') is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party and funded by the Federal Min ...

Liberty International Intu Properties plc was a British real estate investment trust (REIT), largely focused on shopping centre management and development. Originally named Transatlantic Insurance Holdings plc and later Liberty International plc, it changed its name ...

Atlas Network Atlas Network, formerly known as Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking, and grants for libertarian, free-market, and Conserva ...

Early life and career

Venkatesh was born into a poor family of farmers in

Nellore Nellore, also spelt as Nelluru, is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India.Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. He was the co-organizer and speaker at Start-Up Europe Week 2017 while he studied international business and development economics in Italy.

Politics

Venkatesh is influenced by

Nagabhairava Jaya Prakash Narayana Jaya Prakash Narayana (born 14 January 1956) is an Indian liberal politician, activist and a former public administrator. He is the founder and president of Lok Satta Party. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly from Kukatpally cons ...

and joined

Lok Satta Party Lok Satta is a classical liberal political party in India, founded by Nagabhairava Jaya Prakash Narayana, a former IAS officer and renowned activist from Andhra Pradesh. Since 1996, the Lok Satta Movement functioned as a non-governmental or ...

in his student life. Venkatesh actively engages with the European liberal political party

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) is a European political party composed of 76 national-level parties from across Europe, mainly active in the European Union. The ALDE Party is affiliated with Liberal Interna ...

and

European Liberal Youth European Liberal Youth (abbreviated as LYMEC) is an international organisation of liberal youth movements – mostly the youth wings of members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party but also individual members. LYMEC holds ...

as an Individual member. He did campaign for

More Europe More Europe ( or ''+Europa''; +E or +Eu) is a liberal and pro-European political party in Italy, part of the centre-left coalition and member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. History Foundation More Europe was laun ...

2018 Italian general election The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was Dissolution of parliament in Italy, dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of ...

and

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(Germany) and Its Youth wing

Young Liberals (Germany) The Young Liberals (, JuLis), is a political youth organisation in Germany. It is the financially and organisationally independent youth wing of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The JuLis claim about 15,000 members,2017 German federal election The 2017 German federal election was held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the List of members of the 19th Bundestag, members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 Overhang seat, overhan ...

and

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

Activism

Geriti was one of the founders of Youth for Better India, an anti-corruption youth organization that educates and organizes young people for supporting anti-corruption institutions and governance reforms. He was actively involved in the

2011 Indian anti-corruption movement The Indian anti-corruption movement, popularly known as Anna Andolan, was a series of demonstrations and protests across India that began in 2011 and was intended to establish strong legislation and enforcement against perceived endemic politic ...

in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. Venkatesh has represented Indian organizations in various international conferences in countries like the United States, China, Germany, Italy, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nepal. He is a panel member of Liberty International World Conference.

Awards and achievements

and Global Fellowship Award 2019 by the International Confederation of Non-Governmental Organizations and the United Nations *Delhi Youth Award 2017 by India Youth Foundation *"20 Years and 20 Champions" by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geriti, Venkatesh Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Nellore district Indian anti-corruption activists People from Tirupati