Ber TC mL ed zi IDEAS@WORK Re Ca START-UPS WITH, AND THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE liked/hated this column? write to bmfeedback@indiatimes.com Journeys for social change Keerthi Kiran co-founder of Grassroutes nabling youth to look at society and their role in it from a fresh perspective through a road trip, that's the unique initiative called Grassroutes. In conversation with one of the founders Keerthi Kiran. ORIGINS The concept was born during a camp- ing trip to a few vil- START UP-TO-DATE Company: Grassroutes.in Domaln: Social change lages in and around — through road trips Pilani while pursuing Founders: Keerthi Kiran, my engineering at Abhilash Ravishankar, BITS. It was after this Sriram V, Shravya Reddy, trip that we stumbled Gautam Ullas on the idea of engag- Founded In: Dec 2008 ing the youth insocial Funding: Vishal Talreja, Dilip action. Grassroutes D Souza, Aditi Pany was initiated by five of us — Abhilash Ravishankar, Sriram V, Shravya Reddy, Gautam Ullas and myself — with the idea of send- ing the youth on road trips for social change. I work full time, while the others lend their support as they have full time positions in the corporate sector. ELEVATOR PITCH Our vision is to create socially conscious young leaders who are committed to social change. We have three main objectives: To provide young peo- ple with a transformational experience, to add incremental value to the organisations and to inspire the larger community through experiences. of Grassroutes fellows. GAMEPLAN The Grassroutes Fellowship Program looks to engage young people between the age group of 18- 25 in social action by using travel as a means. It started out with just three teams mapped to three rural NGOs. Today we have partnered with over 20 NGOs across the nation and have completed three editions of the fellowship program which has engaged over 40 individuals. The fourth edition is set to kickoff coming May. During the course, Grassroutes fellows work with change-makers and social entrepreneurs who are creating sustainable, significant impact in different parts of the country and share their experiences using traditional and non conventional media. THE CHALLENGES The main challenge has been to manage coor- dination as the core team works across cities. But technology has been a great enabler. REWARD: FAME, MONEY, THRILL? It’s definitely about providing a platform to make a difference.