Umesh is research director at The Circulate Initiative, a nonprofit organisation committed to solving the ocean plastic pollution challenge and advancing the circular economy in emerging economies. In his role, Umesh leads The Circulate Initiative’s research strategy, with a focus on data and insights to fill critical gaps in the plastics circularity space. He additionally supports partner organisations, Circulate Capital and The Incubation Network on their research initiatives. His current portfolio of work on national and city-level projects in South Asia and Southeast Asia is aimed at enabling decision-makers with the required tools to drive additional capital flows to tackling the plastic pollution problem. Prior to joining The Circulate Initiative, Umesh worked in research and advisory roles at Rabobank and Euromonitor International. Umesh is a management graduate from the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA).