Sanju Pal - Founder, RISE

Stories Over Spreadsheets

*This interview was recorded at the Teach For All Social Innovator Global Gathering in Kuala Lumpur in July 2018. Sanju is the founder of the education charity RISE, which she set up as a teacher after winning the 2008 Teach First Learmonth School Project Award for the youth social enterprise programme she created. Passionate about helping disadvantaged young people, she oversees RISE's education programmes in the UK and India in volunteer capacity whilst working as a Management Consultant at Accenture where I specialise in Talent & Organisation in Financial Services. RISE is passionate about raising the aspirations of disadvantaged young people in the UK and rural India. Their innovative model enables students in both countries to meet virtually - a life changing experience that broadens their horizons and inspires them to aim higher. In West Bengal, where 46% of 10- year-olds are at least 3 years behind their expected reading level, RISE runs a literacy programme, Yearn to Learn, for children most at risk of dropping out of school. In the UK, where there is an employability skills crisis, RISE runs The ROAR Challenge to enable school students to set up their own social enterprise and meet the Yearn to Learn children they are helping in rural India. http://rise-online.co.uk/