Avanse Financial Services Appoints Anila Rajneesh as its Chief People Officer
Avanse Financial Services (Avanse), a leading education-focused non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India, announced the appointment of Anila Rajneesh as its Chief People Officer, effective October 2026. Anila brings over 25 years of expertise in driving HR transformation, organisational development, and cultural strategy. She is adept at aligning workforce priorities with overarching business goals to elevate employee engagement, boost performance, and scale organisations for sustainable growth. Her leadership encompasses building high-performing teams, developing robust talent pipelines, and embedding DEI, ESG, and workforce analytics into core HR frameworks.
Based at Avanse’s Mumbai head office, Anila Rajneesh will lead the Human Resources function, driving organisational growth through strategic, employee-centric policies and industry best practices to support the company’s core asset – its people. In this role, she will focus on enhancing a collaborative work environment where employees can thrive both personally and professionally. Additionally, Anila will oversee Avanse’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework, developing initiatives aligned with the organisation’s environmental and sustainability commitments to drive meaningful community impact.
Anila brings extensive leadership experience in the BFSI sector, having spent nearly eight years at Fedbank Financial Services Ltd. (Fedfina) prior to joining Avanse. Her career trajectory also includes senior leadership roles across prominent institutions, including Fino Payments Bank, CIMB, and HDFC Securities.
Commenting on the appointment, Amit Gainda, Managing Director & CEO, Avanse Financial Services, said, “We are delighted to welcome Anila to our leadership team. Her extensive experience across leading financial institutions positions her to drive business transformation through people, culture, and technology. At Avanse, people-centricity remains at the core of our strategy. As an organisation, we will always focus on fostering a symbiotic environment for our employees that enhances their learning curve, resulting in ‘Return on Intelligence’ while enabling ‘Return on Capital’ for stakeholders. We are confident that Anila’s leadership will empower us to bring innovative perspectives and strategies to boost our HR function with a focus on growth, diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Avanse Financial Services has recently been certified as a Great Place To Work® for the 6th consecutive year. Securing this certification six times in a row is a powerful testament to the company’s strong culture, values, and workplace standards.