Radhika Thakkar

Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Sun King

2019 International Award Winner

Radhika Thakkar is Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Sun King (formerly known as Greenlight Planet), the world’s largest off-grid solar energy company with cutting-edge product design, affordable financing, and a grassroots installation model to provide energy to the 1.8 billion consumers across Africa and Asia. 

The company’s products have provided light and power to more than 102 million people who previously depended on kerosene, gas generators, disposable battery torches, or extremely intermittent grid access for their primary sources of energy and have prevented more than 28 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Thakkar joined Sun King in its first month of commercial operations in 2009. She led the company’s global expansion from its initial start in India and opened the company’s first regional office in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya in 2012. In her current role, Thakkar oversees Sun King’s ESG practices and external industry relations, as well as strengthening the company’s internal culture, policy, talent development, and governance as it continues to grow at a dynamic pace around the world. Thakkar was also the first female elected to the Board of Directors of GOGLA, the global off-grid energy industry association in 2016, and she was elected to serve as the President of the Board by her peers in the industry in 2019. Thakkar holds a BA in International Relations from Tufts University.