E35 - Pooja Rai - Bring back Play

23-09-2021 • 33 mins

Pooja Rai’s NGO, Anthill Creations, builds sustainable playgrounds for kids “Playgrounds should not be a luxury”. It is something every child should have access to for free.” And that is when the then 23-year-old student of architecture in IIT-Kharagpur made her first playground for children within her institution’s campus, using colourful tyres from cars and two-wheelers repurposed as play equipment. In 2017, Pooja started Anthill Creations, an NGO that builds sustainable playgrounds for all kids.

In this episode, Pooja shares her journey as a co-founder of the social enterprise - Anthill Creation. Role of community in her project and the positive impact it creates. Bolstering academic progress through playgrounds, pointers for all wannabe social entrepreneurs. How working with various forums will enhance your ideation and network. The skills needed for children in the 21st century.

Timestamps

Pooja’s backstory & Anthill - 2:07
Start-up and social enterprise ecosystem - 10:49
Things to watch out for as a social entrepreneur - 15:34
Power of 3 - 22:39
Play and its development in children - 29:26

Key quotes and references from the episode:

There is no one metric to define impact in social entrepreneurship - Impact first; profits next
The only way to beat the competition is to be ahead of them
Have a bias for action
Make play as part of education, 21st-century skills are learnt at the playground

Connect with Pooja Rai: Website, Email and LinkedIN

Pooja’s book - The Road Not taken

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