20 min.

Empowering Rural Indian Women | Neha Upadhyaya, Guna Organics Mission Driven Podcast

    • Ondernemerschap

In this episode, I speak with Neha Upadhyaya about her work in rural India as the founder of Guna Organics.

Neha's journey began with a powerful sense of purpose sparked by surviving an earthquake, which led her to witness firsthand the struggles of affected villages. Instead of opting for the conventional path of joining an NGO or government agency, Neha chose to take matters into her own hands by founding a new organization.

Through our conversation, we speak about her journey, and the lessons she has learned along the way as a young founder who has done incredible work to empower so many women.

About Neha
Neha Upadhyaya is a social entrepreneur based in New Delhi, India. She graduated from King’s College London and worked in the education sector in the U.K. Her focus was with children suffering from Juvenile diabetes , Autism , ADHD etc. She observed their lifestyle , was reluctant in treating them with western medication and received trainings in organics and Macrobiotics from Daylesford organic school , Wholefood Harmony and Navdanya Bina Vidyapeeth which have proven to be alternative healing practises.

Upon her return to India , she founded Guna whose vision is to empower women farmers through vertical integration of organic farming and solar technology for post harvest management and rural electrification in the hilly terrains of Ladakh , J&K India. She was the recipient of Future Leaders Connect (2018) & Social Impact India award (2017) by the British Council. Recently , Guna and her work won prototype grants and awards named Entrepreneur Excellence award by I.I.T. Delhi (2017) and Smart fifty solutions that will transform India by I.I.M C.I.P. (2018).

She has won full scholarship to study sustainability and responsible leadership from Govt.of Sweden with the course titled Swedish Institute Management Programme 2017. She recently won a fellowship from Earthwatch Institute to facilitate SDG’s in mountain communities.
She is well recognised by the media and featured in Economic Times , Time out New York , India Today , CNBC Young Turks.

Her NGO won the prestigious small grants programme from GEF UNDP and Ministry of environment, forests and climate change in 2017. With a strong commitment to environmental sustainability , she envisions an inclusive , equitable and healthy society where men and women support each other in every aspect of life and enjoy their right to realise their full potential.

Follow Neha
website: http://gunaorganics.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neha-upadhyay-249279a8/

About Rich
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, Richard Brubaker has spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to take their first step.

Acting as a catalyst to driving sustainability, Brubaker works with government, corporate, academic and non-profit stakeholders to bring together knowledge, teams, and tools that develop and execute their business case for sustainability.

Follow Rich
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Rich
social@richbrubaker.com

In this episode, I speak with Neha Upadhyaya about her work in rural India as the founder of Guna Organics.

Neha's journey began with a powerful sense of purpose sparked by surviving an earthquake, which led her to witness firsthand the struggles of affected villages. Instead of opting for the conventional path of joining an NGO or government agency, Neha chose to take matters into her own hands by founding a new organization.

Through our conversation, we speak about her journey, and the lessons she has learned along the way as a young founder who has done incredible work to empower so many women.

About Neha
Neha Upadhyaya is a social entrepreneur based in New Delhi, India. She graduated from King’s College London and worked in the education sector in the U.K. Her focus was with children suffering from Juvenile diabetes , Autism , ADHD etc. She observed their lifestyle , was reluctant in treating them with western medication and received trainings in organics and Macrobiotics from Daylesford organic school , Wholefood Harmony and Navdanya Bina Vidyapeeth which have proven to be alternative healing practises.

Upon her return to India , she founded Guna whose vision is to empower women farmers through vertical integration of organic farming and solar technology for post harvest management and rural electrification in the hilly terrains of Ladakh , J&K India. She was the recipient of Future Leaders Connect (2018) & Social Impact India award (2017) by the British Council. Recently , Guna and her work won prototype grants and awards named Entrepreneur Excellence award by I.I.T. Delhi (2017) and Smart fifty solutions that will transform India by I.I.M C.I.P. (2018).

She has won full scholarship to study sustainability and responsible leadership from Govt.of Sweden with the course titled Swedish Institute Management Programme 2017. She recently won a fellowship from Earthwatch Institute to facilitate SDG’s in mountain communities.
She is well recognised by the media and featured in Economic Times , Time out New York , India Today , CNBC Young Turks.

Her NGO won the prestigious small grants programme from GEF UNDP and Ministry of environment, forests and climate change in 2017. With a strong commitment to environmental sustainability , she envisions an inclusive , equitable and healthy society where men and women support each other in every aspect of life and enjoy their right to realise their full potential.

Follow Neha
website: http://gunaorganics.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neha-upadhyay-249279a8/

About Rich
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, Richard Brubaker has spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to take their first step.

Acting as a catalyst to driving sustainability, Brubaker works with government, corporate, academic and non-profit stakeholders to bring together knowledge, teams, and tools that develop and execute their business case for sustainability.

Follow Rich
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker

Contact Rich
social@richbrubaker.com

20 min.