Shaktipreneur in Spotlight: Deviya Prabhakar (Co-founder, SowGood Foundation)

“Children need to know that their favorite chips do not come out of packets, but from potatoes that they can grow themselves,” says Deviya Prabhakar, Shaktipreneur in Spotlight and Co-Founder of SowGood Foundation, an initiative to grow a more nature-aware generation.

Journey of the entrepreneur 

Deviya has been interested in doing something for the social good since childhood.

After graduation in commerce, she joined the banking and insurance sector for 11 years. She had a fulfilling career in Standard Chartered Bank, Max New York Life, and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, where she received multiple promotions.

“I was doing well but missed connecting with the community, especially children. I also desired to work for a better tomorrow, ” she says.

That led to Prabhakar quitting the corporate world. She joined the Teach For India fellowship in 2014.

Two years in TFI allowed her to work with grade 2 children in MCD school, Munika, Delhi.

While teaching these kids, she felt that the education system was not adequately experimental. Even though these kids were from farming backgrounds, they lacked connection with the soil and respect for food.

“I strongly feel that our education is insufficient in providing children with critical thinking, reflection, and values,” she adds.

These experiences pushed her to find solutions for integrating skills and values into existing pedagogy.

She joined the Khel Khel Mein Foundation, where she managed the backend for 2 years. Here, she came across SGF and loved the concept.

Deviya joined SGF as a volunteer. Her belief in the significance of empowerment of teachers to nurture the next generation, pushed her to develop programs for effective teaching.

“I design the program for children and teachers, execute them, and redesign after incorporating the feedback and observations,” she adds.

 Gradually, she became the Co-founder of SGF.

Work done by the organization  

SowGood foundation works with private and government schools to create a curriculum that allows children from classes 3 to 5 to create farms and waste-segregation units in schools.

“We aim to integrate farming practices and techniques with the school curriculum to make learning fun and build a connection and respect for agriculture, ”she says.

SGF also has a farm at Anandgram, Delhi, where they run a 6- month weekly program for children.

Each child is responsible for a small piece of land. Preparing the soil, deciding what to sow where, taking care of the crop as it grows naturally, facing challenges, and finding solutions to overcome them – Children lead the journey of a seed as it becomes food. The children also try to make various things required at the farm – chairs, contraptions for drip irrigation, choolah for cooking, developing the farm design, and building huts. 

“When the children do everything on their own or with friends, they learn to be humble about their wins and grow wiser with failures,” Deviya says, “The process teaches them patience, perseverance, and appreciation, not just for food, but also for the environment, friends, and nature.”

The foundation also organizes tree walks, bird-watching workshops, and art workshops on the patterns of nature for children. Their bi-monthly newsletter, Khet se Khat, is an initiative managed by the children with the help of teachers and volunteers.

SGF also has an Environment Youth Programme for children aged 13 to 18, who volunteer with the organization for a regular stipend. 

“Our Growing Team members love to work with children using alternate ways of education and want to bring change in the environment,” she adds. ”  

Impact of the organization 

SGF programs in Government schools are cost-free and are driven by crowd-funding initiatives.

SowGood school program has worked with over 20000 children in the age group 3-14 with 15 schools in the Delhi-NCR region.

Deviya, the Shaktipreneur

“As an entrepreneur, one needs support from a community of like-minded people, a space where you can learn and share, a non-judgemental place. STEP offered that space to me,” says Deviya.

One of the main challenges she faced was managing finances and raising funds. 

“Our passion for the idea and impact was so strong that we sometimes lost sight of the financial aspect of the organization,” she says. Her mentor, Shashi Velath, understood this and helped her sort and work out the financial challenges, long-term goals, team development, and planning.

“We worked with our mentor as a team to take SowGood to the next level,” she adds proudly.

Deviya feels that the STEP community offers a protective and judgment-free environment for candid conversations during the sessions. That led to a deeper understanding of concepts.

“The STEP community has helped me evolve as a better entrepreneur through learning opportunities from the experts,” she says.

Her critical takeaways from STEP were value-adding mentorship, learning how to make a business pitch, and the cooperative community. 

Deviya quips that she gave a different perspective to her community by teaching them a sustainable and healthy lifestyle, growing food, and managing waste wisely.

“I liked the voting done during the grant disbursement, as the decision was in the hands of the community. We used the grant for initiating the SowGood Growing Classroom Program in one of the Government Schools in Delhi,” she says.

Deviya, the person

Deviya is a simple person who loves nature and all things Indian. Her favorite book is ‘Bhagwat Gita’, and her favorite food is the traditional ‘Bajra khichdi’.

She loves beaches, and Goa is her favorite holiday destination.

She draws inspiration from our esteemed past President, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam.

A Quote that is the Mantra of her life is: “Silence and smile are two powerful tools. Smile to solve the problem and be silent to avoid the problem”.