Kisshan Sankar is a joint-degree MPP/MBA candidate at the Jackson School of Global Affairs, where he is focused on international development and impact investing. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, where he earned a bachelor's degree in quantitative economics. At USNA, he explored the intersection of policy and finance as president of the Economics Honors Society (ODE) and as a subject matter expert on terrorist financing for the Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference.

Kisshan spent six years as a surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, most recently overseeing seven cross-functional teams in the Operations Department of the USS Gladiator, an Avenger-class ship in Manama, Bahrain, where he led mine countermeasure operations in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Previously, as an engineering division officer on the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer based in Rota, Spain, he led sailors on multiple deployments and international exercises to strengthen NATO alliances in the Mediterranean, Black, and Baltic seas.

Currently, Kisshan is a lieutenant in the Navy Reserves, contributing to NATO’s strategic planning and policy. Post-active duty, Kisshan completed internships with UBS (investment strategy) and the Aavishkaar Group (impact investing). Most recently, he worked as a summer associate at Goldman Sachs within their healthcare investment banking division and he continues to explore careers at the intersection of finance and impact. 
 
At Yale, Kisshan has engaged in diverse activities, including joining the Yale grad rugby team and Economic Development Club, advising an AI-based infection diagnosis startup and working as a teaching fellow for global health and statistics courses. He also served as the co-president of the MIINT Impact Investing competition and executive editor for the Yale Journal of International Affairs. Additionally, he was selected as a Yale Ventures associate, providing early-stage venture assessment, incubation, and investment strategy, and as a research assistant for professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld at the Chief Executive Leadership Institute, the world’s first school for CEOs featuring applied research and peer-driven learning. His long-term goal is to leverage his expertise in leadership, economic policy, and financial analysis to drive impact and collaboration between public and private sectors in low-income, middle-income, and post-conflict countries.