Dignity in Disaster: How Goonj Is Rewriting the Rules of Climate Resilience

Founded 27 years ago, Goonj has pioneered the framing of material poverty as a development issue - transforming India's culture of giving by bridging urban surplus with rural, community-led development. Frequently the first responder in India's climate emergencies over the years, Goonj engages pan-India civic participation while centering community agency and dignity in disaster response and climate resilience. This talk will explore how the Goonj philosophy translates into a scalable, systemic model for sustainable development, and what it offers as a blueprint for social work, research, and policy in an era of accelerating climate crises.

About the Speaker: Anshu Gupta is the founder of Goonj and recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award - often called Asia's Nobel Prize. An Ashoka and Schwab Fellow, his leadership has earned Goonj recognition including the World Bank Development Marketplace Award and the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, among many others. A frequent TED and WEF speaker, he also advises several grassroots and national social enterprises. Forbes listed him among India’s most powerful rural entrepreneurs.