EMPOWERING SOCIAL LEADERS
An Initiative of Sahaj Foundation
ABOUT US
The Vriksh is an incubation platform for early-stage social leaders working with communities in India.
Current Focus: Sustainability and Climate Change
WHAT DOES 'VRIKSH' STAND FOR?
Vriskh stands for a Tree (in English). Just as a tree gives shelter to pilgrims on their pilgrimage, we at The Vriksh envision to serve our social leaders on their journey towards societal transformation. The Vriksh in nature inspires us to become The Vriksh of the social leaders.
OUR FELLOWS
Mohamad Meer Hamja
Van Gujjar Tribal Yuva Sangthan
Ensuring the land rights and access to traditional resources of the Van Gujjar community through education and awareness programs.
Shalu Saharan
Living Consciouslyy Foundation
Ensuring access to mental and emotional health, spiritual and personal growth opportunities for everyone.
Saba Khan
Pahal Shiksha Gramin Vikas Evaam Samajik Jankalyan Samiti
Establishing libraries and resource centers in deprived and marginalized communities of Bhopal.
Nikhil Gajanan Ambekar,
Foundation for Participatory Development Communication and Research (PDCR)
Working with adolescents and youth to equip them with media literacy competencies and active citizenship.
Avneesh Kumar
Project Kunji
Supporting ex-prisoners, and their families, for their integration in society by helping them with employment, mental health, education and other related needs.
Rahul Singh
Access to legal aid through tech (ALT)
Providing free legal counseling to marginalized prisoners and their families in Delhi and Dehradun.
T Sundarasekar Thangaraj
Avaram Food Forest Trust
Promoting organic farming and sustainability practices among farmers in Tamilnadu.
Yashok Sivasubramaniam
Ecological Restoration and Conservation Space
Working with communities to preserve the indigenous tribal wisdom and conserve forests in India.
Anumuthu Chinnaraj
Goodwill Mission Trust- Project Snehan
Serving homeless, disabled, old and sick people living on the streets in Puducherry, India.
Shivani Kumari
Wild-India
Working towards betterment of environment and people, while bringing opportunity for green livelihood to rural marginalized, especially women.
Surinder and Kalyani
Vipas Foundation
Empowering youth through skill education, therapy and yoga, and supporting women through physical and mental health and livelihood.
OUR OFFERINGS AND IMPACT
THE VRIKSH FELLOWSHIP
The fellowship aims to financially support early-stage Social Leaders who are working for the benefit of economically or socially disadvantaged section of Indian Society, residing anywhere in slums, rural or tribal areas of the country. The financial support includes a monthly support of Rs 12,000 for the chosen leaders’ personal daily sustenance for a minimum period of 2 years.
CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMS
We are in the process of designing capacity building programs for our fellows for their individual as-well-as organizational development as per their vision, values and principles.
In addition, as our present focus area is Sustainability and Climate Change, we are committed to deepen our fellows' understanding of the field while they continue to do their work with the communities.
ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT 2022
We have come a long way since we launched our pilot (Disha Parivartan Fellowship) in 2019.
So far, we have worked with 13 fellows in 7 different domains working in 8 states of the country.
We have also engaged 12 funders (mostly individual philanthropists) who have not only chosen to contribute financially, but have also shared their time and experience with the fellows.
Do explore our Annual Impact Report 2022 for more insights.
OUR TEAM
ASHISH ARORA
Ashish is a co-founder of The Vriksh Initiative and Sahaj Foundation. He supports people to follow their hearts and organizations to create transformative cultures.
Since 2013, Ashish’s work has emerged into the Personal, Systemic and Organizational Transformation space. He organizes retreats for youth to understand their hearts’ calling, facilitates workshops to collectively explore the limitations and possibilities of transformation of our mainstream socio-economic systems, and works with organizations to inspire them to embrace the Teal paradigm.
At a personal level, Ashish prefers to practise simple living that involves farming, cooking and spending time in nature. He lives with his partner in Bir, Himachal Pradesh.
ANKIT SRIVASTAVA
Ankit is one of the founders of the Vriksh initiative. He is passionate about sustainability and works towards building solutions and helping others build solutions for one of the biggest challenges facing us as humanity.
Ankit is also the co-founder of Climajo, a B2B marketplace for sustainable retailers. Previously, he worked in venture capital focusing on investing in early-stage ClimateTech companies. He also hosted Dowell, a podcast focused on discussing steps to create a more sustainable planet.
Ankit has an MBA from the London Business School and an engineering degree from IIT Roorkee. He lives in London with his wife and a 3-year-old son.