Priya Agrawal
Ashoka Fellow since 2015   |   India

Priya Agrawal

Antarang Foundation
Priya Agrawal’s initiative, Antarang, is challenging the paradigms in career linkages for children from low income backgrounds who are at a high risk of dropping out of the education stream and…
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This description of Priya Agrawal's work was prepared when Priya Agrawal was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2015.

Introduction

Priya Agrawal’s initiative, Antarang, is challenging the paradigms in career linkages for children from low income backgrounds who are at a high risk of dropping out of the education stream and falling into the informal exploitative sector. She is striving to break the stereotypes around jobRead more

The New Idea

Priya is taking at risk children - school dropouts/potential dropouts in urban slum communities, juveniles in conflict with the law and those engaged in the informal, exploitative sector - through a transformative journey which enables them to articulate their desired career paths, set goals andRead more

The Problem

Increase in the share of youth population due to demographic ‘dividend’ seems to be one of the sources of future economic growth in India. However, despite increase in school and college enrolment rates, the proportion of youth in the labour force has been declining (labour force participationRead more

The Strategy

To ensure effective career linkages within the organised sector for at risk youth, Priya Agrawal set up Antarang in 2012. Antarang works in partnership with CSOs with strong community mobilisation skills in 11 slum communities in Mumbai and two in Varanasi to identify at risk children in theirRead more

The Person

Priya made a switch into the social sector in 2002 after an 11 year long career in advertising and market research and has never looked back since. Deeply shaken by a severe incident of child abuse that she witnessed at a busy traffic junction in Mumbai, in a leap of faith, Priya found herselfRead more

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