This episodes speaker is Kalyani Subramanyam. Kalyani Subramanyam is the Chief Operating Officer at The Naz Foundation (India) Trust, a New Delhi-based NGO working on issues of HIV and Sexuality. She has 20 years of experience working on issues of HIV and Sexuality.
Kalyani is an avid sports enthusiast. As a strong advocate for women’s rights, she has been responsible for the development of the ‘Young People’s Initiative’ (previously known as ‘Goal’ program): A Women’s Empowerment initiative, which uses sport and life skills education to transform the lives of young disadvantaged girls and young women. Young People’s Initiative has reached out to more than 1,15,000 girls across the country.
As the COO, Kalyani oversees the implementation of all of Naz’s work and the smooth functioning of the organisation. She is responsible for the development of Naz’s strategic plan, establishing policies that promote company culture and vision and growth of the organisation. She was honored with the Life Time Achievement Award at the Global Goal Summit, 2017 for her commitment to providing safe spaces for girls to play and providing them with life skills education. This subsequently led her to being appointed as one of the members at the International Safeguarding Children in Sport Advisory Board at UNICEF. She is a Vital Voices Lead Fellow and an alumnus of the Dasra Leadership program.
Durga as a citizen sector organisation wants to build power and resilience in youth to act against sexual harassment in public spaces and also work towards a Gender Just society. Towards this, we do various strategic activities around engaging with youth in various places like colleges, schools, events, online forums, and also through active campaigning. Some of our efforts include VOICE (Gender Justice) labs in educational institutions, DAREs (Real Heroes who will be active bystanders) on streets, Unlikely Allies (with men, BMTC drivers, and Paurakarmika women) as well as social audits of public spaces that women should rightfully occupy.
To continue with this and show support to the Global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, Durga launched the India Gender Equity Week leading to the first-ever virtual forum named NGAGE to bring youth and others together to create awareness on the women’s movement, the issues of intersectionality, and also solutions aligned with the constitutional rights bestowed on citizens. The Fireside Chat is a continuation of the NGAGE forum. Through the Fireside Chats, Priya from DURGA speaks to Gender Justice activists across the country on their activism and inspiration to youth to further the movement.
Do you want to know what drives a true Activist? Listen to our Fireside conversations with some of the best Gender Justice Advocates, curated only for you - to question and dissent in your own way!
