Mayank Gandhi was an international urban planner (part of the Advisory Body of Chicago based CTBUH working in developed countries). It was in 2003 that he decided to work on transformative reforms in public life that would bring justice to the common Indian.

He was part of the team that collaborated with Anna Hazare in the drafting and passing of the Maharashtra RTI. As part of his zeal to transform the country, he started the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement along with Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare. This historical nationwide movement motivated Indians of all ages and backgrounds to make their voices heard about the state of governance of the country. This movement then morphed into the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), of which he was the member of the National Executive.

As his involvement in politics increased, he realized that the movement to transform the political narrative and culture was changing into a power game. It was in 2015 that he quit politics completely. "There were more ways to serve the nation, politics was but a path".

Inspired by Gandhiji's words, "The soul of India lives in its villages”, and his personal belief that the only way India can become a global power again would be if rural India were empowered, he sold his house in Mumbai and started working in some of the worst-hit villages of Marathwada, Maharashtra.

"Thus began the journey of the Global Vikas Trust".