Dr. Chandra Vadhana Radhakrishnan (Dr. CeeVee) is a scholar in sustainable entrepreneurship, gender, employability, and innovation, with an interdisciplinary background spanning management, psychology, innovation and entrepreneurship education. She brings over 20 years of professional and academic experience, including a decade of impactful work in women's entrepreneurship and employability.

She earned her PhD in Management (Psychometrics) from Cochin University of Science and Technology in 2020. Her doctoral thesis, "Inventory for Critical Managerial Soft Skills (ICMS) – Development and Standardisation", involved the development of psychometric tools for assessing managerial softskills competencies, which have been listed in the American Psychological Association's PsycTESTS database. She was subsequently awarded the prestigious Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University (2022–2024), where she conducted research at the Gendered Innovation Lab under Prof. Londa Schiebinger. During this period, she developed the Regenerative Startups Assessment Framework (RSAF) and contributed to case studies and research on equity, gender, and sustainability in innovation ecosystems.

Dr. CeeVee is also associated with UC Berkeley as Guest Faculty at the Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation, contributing to global dialogues on innovation, diversity, and entrepreneurship. A regular scholar, panelist, and workshop facilitator for the Berkeley Innovation Forum, she collaborates with top MNCs in Silicon Valley on their corporate innovation challenges.

In addition, she has worked as a Consultant with UNCTAD, profiling women entrepreneurs internationally and advancing research on inclusive development.

Her academic output includes peer-reviewed publications on gender, entrepreneurship, employability, and sustainability, along with authorship of non-fiction books including Fly High Women (2024) and But What If I'm Not Elon Musk?! – Open Innovation Strategies for AI Adoption, Scaling and Diffusion (2025, launched at the Berkeley Innovation Forum).

Beyond academia, Dr. CeeVee is the Founder of Prayaana Labs, a UNCTAD-award-winning non-profit dedicated to women's employability and entrepreneurship in India, and Founder and Managing Editor of SheSight Magazine, a global digital media platform amplifying women leaders and changemakers. These initiatives reflect her commitment to bridging academic knowledge with real-world social impact.

Current Position

Currently, she serves as a Senior Lecturer at Monash Business School, working within the Work Integrated Learning Team. In this role, she mentors students and supervises research projects related to sustainability, ESG implementation, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and startup/entrepreneurship programs.

She is associated with the Monash Innovation Guarantee program as a subject expert in inclusive innovation and lean startup methods, and serves as Group Leader for the Monash Global Immersion Guarantee program.

She also serves as a PhD milestone reviewer for topics related to sustainable business and entrepreneurship.

Current Research Projects

1. Unthinkable lifestyle changes for sustainability: lessons from disruptive innovators and entrepreneurs
2. How short-term mentoring in innovation hackathons impacts both mentees and mentors

Recognition

Her contributions have been recognized globally, including the Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship (2022-2024), the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the Women in Business Award for Social Entrepreneurship from UNCTAD (2018), and multiple best paper awards for her research in management and sustainability.

Dr. CeeVee has served as a keynote speaker at distinguished international forums, including the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and various state governments in India. She is regularly invited to speak on topics related to gendered innovation, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), sustainable entrepreneurship, and employability.

Chandra's research interests include Entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, leadership , gender, gendered innovations, soft skills, managerial skills, and related topics in the scholarship of Teaching and Learning.  She is looking to superivise PhD students in mixed method research works. 

Faculty member in the Work Integrated Learning Team of Monash Business School.