About Us
As COVID-19 lockdowns hit India, extraordinary hardships were faced by millions of migrants as they struggled with job loss, basic food for sustenance, access to covid care. While people like us swiftly moved to remote work with digital infrastructure (Zoom, Slack, etc) effortlessly - Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) directly helping migrant workers in distress on the ground were completely cut off from reaching them.
We started to see that tech tends to exclude vulnerable communities and those who work with them. And started wondering how such impact organisations working to serve vulnerable communities can access technology & digital infrastructure better serve migrant communities? So a few friends got together to set up an online helpdesk & case management system with a toll free number that could be used by a collaboration of CSOs to help migrant workers from anywhere in India.
Since then we have continued to grow in our effots to make technology accessible to grassroots, small NGOs and help them amplify their impact. We are grateful to our friends, partners and well wishers who have supported us in this journey.
Our Values
Building things - Be a creator not a consumer/audience. Making things is one of the best ways to learn and help others solve problems. We love when people enjoy building things. Whether its a website to improve discoverabilty or an app using FOSS tools or a board game to help children learn math.
Valuable solutions vs original solutions - Don't feel pressured to writing new code just for the sake of it, or building new original apps. Instead focus on using what is already there to create “valuable” solutions. Remember, just because gmail is free does not mean that everyone will write amazing emails.
Problem solving - Break down complex problems to smaller pieces, and then solving them.
Attention to detail - If you cant solve the small problems, details then how can you solve the bigger more difficult problems. right?
Simplicity - Keep things simple, clear. Always choose the simplest words, simplest methods, tools. Always.
Helping others - We have to move from independent to interdependent. That is the only way to protect our planet and people from the challenges they face today.
Curious & lifelong learners - Be curious and learn new things through self learning, trying things out. failing is ok. If you fall 7 times, you are getting up 8 times.
Teaching, Sharing - Believe in actively sharing our learning with others and building everyone’s capacity.
Meet The Team
Ramya Sundararajan
Director, Board Member
A storyteller at heart, Ramya is CEO at WeLive Foundation and associated with Azim Premji University’s English Language Support Centre.
Veena Gadia
Director
A post-graduate in Chemistry, Veena volunteers with organisations that support children with special needs, offering counselling and support to parents.
Shemeer Babu
Co-founder
Shemeer is passionate about tech for social good and has 12+ years of experience in leadership, design thinking and impact technology.
Deepali Kulkarni
Co-founder
Deepali is passionate about projects where technology is used for the greater good. She helps Aikyam stay close to our mission and guides us with her leadership and mentoring.
Arunabha Bhattacharya
Co-founder
Arunabha is passionate about bridging worlds, connecting silos, diffusing ideas and human connections for greater good.