[2] Desai has been recognized as one of the "Most Powerful Women in New York" by Crains Magazine, and for her Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts by ArtTable.

[7] Before joining the Asia Society in 1990, Desai was at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston as a curator and the head of public programs and academic affairs.

A Scholar of Asian Art and a public intellectual, Desai is a frequent speaker at international forums on subjects focusing on cultural roots of Asia's economic and political transformation and challenges.

She has authored opinion pieces on political, cultural, and women's development in Asia that have appeared in more than fifty publications around the world.

[9] Desai is a trustee of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and is a member of the board of directors of Mahindra and Mahindra, the largest multi-national corporation in India, and recently joined the board of directors for Teach For All, a global network of 45 independent, locally led and funded partner organizations whose stated shared mission is to expand educational opportunity around the world by increasing and accelerating the impact of social enterprises that are cultivating the leadership necessary for change.

[11] The recipient of numerous international and national grants and fellowships, Desai has received four honorary degrees from American Universities.