Lakshmi Hariharan serves as the Principal of Srushti Degree College and has also been chosen as an Academic Council member and Syndicate member of Bangalore North University. In 2001, she established the Srushti Trust, dedicating a decade to enabling youth as social innovators to facilitate school access for out-of-school children across over 500 rural areas in North Karnataka.

She is an artist, educationist, and trainer with a Master’s degree in Education from Azim Premji University. Additionally, she has done Women’s Entrepreneurship program at IIMB, University Educators  program for design thinking at D. School, Stanford University, USA, and U.theory at the Presencing Institute, MIT USA, aimed at co-creating an emerging future. She has undertaken training under traditional gurus in classical Indian dance and music.

Lakshmi has conducted independent studies and research at Azim Premji University on topics such as “Individual and social change by adolescents using arts & design processes” and developing a framework for co-creation. She enjoys facilitating young people to brainstorm and implement innovative solutions at the annual Youth Social Innovation Conference.