| William Nanda Bissell | |
| Birth Date: | 10 June 1966 |
| Birth Place: | New Delhi, India |
| Nationality: | Indian/American |
| Occupation: | Businessman |
| Known For: | Managing Director of Fabindia |
| Notable Works: | Making India Work (Penguin India, 2009) |
William Nanda Bissell (born 10 June 1966) an Indian businessman and the chairman of Fabindia. Until 2018, Bissell served as the managing director of the company.[1] [2] [3]
Bissell was born to Bimla Nanda, a Punjabi, and John Bissell, an American from Connecticut, who came to India in the 1950s as part of a programme by Ford Foundation to work with rural craftsmen and develop artisanal clusters in a newly independent nation.[4] In 1960, John Bissell founded Fabindia, a company that connected rural craftsmen, weavers and artists from across India to urban markets.[5]
Bissell grew up in Delhi and later attended Wesleyan University in the United States. After graduating in 1988, Bissell set up an artisans' co-operative based on the Gandhian model, which involved working with leather workers in Rajasthan.[6] In 1993, Bissell returned to New Delhi to help John run Fabindia.
Bissell acquired Organic India.[7] [8] He has also served as a trustee of Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi.[9]
In 2009, he authored Making India Work, published by Penguin India, in which he drew from the experience of working with over 40,000 rural craftspeople in India and addressed India's economical and socio-political challenges.[10]
Bissell is an angel investor and has made numerous investments across sectors, some of which include, the publishing platform Juggernaut Books, Wow! Momo, educational and school software startup Foradian.[11] [12] [13]