HARMEET KAUR DAWAR

Harmeet Kaur founded The Pink Foundation, an organization that promotes holistic development of marginalized section of society, by adapting an integrated approach with main emphasis on Four Es: - Entrepreneurship, Employment, Education and Empowerment. She is a Communications Consultant and has worked in the NGO sector with organizations like Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, and Craftroots. She is associated with the World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper and Young Leader-Fellow at Young Connectors of Future Programme of Swedish Institute, Sweden. Besides this, she is a scholar at Thomson Reuters Foundation and participated in Trust Women Conference hosted in London. She also has a strong entrepreneurial spirit which gave her an opportunity to be on the Mentor Board of The Gujarat University Startup & Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC). She also has experience in issues relating to Dalits, Women Empowerment, NREGA, and Craft Artisans.

What is your favourite word?
Gratitude. I feel grateful to so many people in my life for being the source of inspiration to me. I'm also very vocal about it because I believe it's important to express gratitude. By expressing ourselves, we reassure ourselves of how fortunate we are with what we have, which motivates us to accomplish more.

What was the moment in your life that made you Blossom into the person you are today?
Once I was delivering a lecture on sanitation in a village in Rajasthan. There was this one girl who kept going out and coming back every five minutes. I was wondering if she found the lecture boring, or she had some other important work outside. Post the lecture I did happen to meet her and asked what made her go to and fro during the session. She said she was in her periods and hasn't been wearing a cloth or pad, so had to walk out every five minutes to wash. It shook me in a way that I felt stirred. It is one of those moments that made me focus more on people who are deprived of basic facilities.

What would you want the young boys & girls to learn from your journey?
Being a volunteer for various causes taught me a lot. Every child should volunteer. I feel every parent must make this possible for their children. Be it any organization for any cause, we've to channel the child's area of interest into an act of volunteering. How impactful would it be if every child gets to volunteer for the underprivileged before they turn 18? The impact will change their way of seeing life positively.