Pooja Taparia
Pooja Taparia is Founder and Chief Executive of Arpan, a globally recognized, award winning NGO working towards the elimination of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in India. Based in Mumbai, with a team of over 100 dedicated professionals, Arpan is India’s largest NGO providing CSA Prevention and Intervention services for both children and adults. As a critical stakeholder for state and non-state actors, Arpan is a leading voice in the space of CSA Prevention and Intervention in India, and uses advocacy and research to push for policy and systemic change at the local, state and national levels.
As a leader, Pooja embodies the spirit of the modern-day social entrepreneur and has grown Arpan from a 2 person startup into a global thought leader in the CSA space, with innovative impact models that work with a range of stakeholders, from children and parents to state bodies and teachers. Arpan's key project focuses on Personal Safety Education in schools, teaching children and adolescents (ages 4 to 15) about personal safety so they can identify and seek help in unsafe situations. Arpan also trains and empowers teachers and parents with the knowledge, attitude and skills needed to prevent and deal with CSA.
Since 2007 Arpan has impacted over 1.6 million children and adults, and has received 6 National and 2 International Awards, including the WISE Award and the C. Henry Kempe Award for its exemplary work.
Pooja is a member of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) and has received numerous awards for her work on Child Abuse, including the Inspire Award, the Astitwa Award, the Architects of the Future Award and the Karmaveer Puraskar Award.
She is a Board Member of Sol’s ARC, which conducts innovative education research to build inclusive learning content for children and helps integrate in relevant eco-systems. She is also on the Board of Advisors for Annam and One Future Collective. Annam addresses the issue of malnutrition by providing nutrition supplements to children and women. One Future Collective is a feminist youth led not for profit organisation that works on building compassionate youth social leadership in India.
As a leader, Pooja embodies the spirit of the modern-day social entrepreneur and has grown Arpan from a 2 person startup into a global thought leader in the CSA space, with innovative impact models that work with a range of stakeholders, from children and parents to state bodies and teachers. Arpan's key project focuses on Personal Safety Education in schools, teaching children and adolescents (ages 4 to 15) about personal safety so they can identify and seek help in unsafe situations. Arpan also trains and empowers teachers and parents with the knowledge, attitude and skills needed to prevent and deal with CSA.
Since 2007 Arpan has impacted over 1.6 million children and adults, and has received 6 National and 2 International Awards, including the WISE Award and the C. Henry Kempe Award for its exemplary work.
Pooja is a member of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) and has received numerous awards for her work on Child Abuse, including the Inspire Award, the Astitwa Award, the Architects of the Future Award and the Karmaveer Puraskar Award.
She is a Board Member of Sol’s ARC, which conducts innovative education research to build inclusive learning content for children and helps integrate in relevant eco-systems. She is also on the Board of Advisors for Annam and One Future Collective. Annam addresses the issue of malnutrition by providing nutrition supplements to children and women. One Future Collective is a feminist youth led not for profit organisation that works on building compassionate youth social leadership in India.