WALTHAM, MA—In India, he is simply known as the Clothing Man. He is a social entrepreneur and the recipient of prestigious Ramon Magsaysay. In 1998, Anshu Gupta left his corporate job and founded GOONJ with a mission to make clothing a matter of concern and to bring it among the list of subjects for the development sector.
In an exclusive video interview with INDIA New England News, Gupta talks about his journey, social entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and growing opportunities in the social enterprise sector in India and worldwide.
To watch the interview, please click here.
Gupta’s work with GOONJ goes to a core challenge of today: the growing gap between the urban prosperity and rural poverty. He has taken the menacing growth of urban waste and used it effectively and efficiently as a tool to trigger large scale development work on diverse issues: roads, water, environment, education, health etc. in some of the most backward and remote pockets of India, according to his website.
Bridging the massive gap of social and economic inequities between urban and rural India in an innovative way, Gupta has created a new dynamic focused on the receiver’s dignity rather than the donor’s pride, according to Goonj website.
Gupta was recently in Boston to talk about social entrepreneurship at a joint event organized by TiE-Boston and the American India Foundation. Gupta has been named by Forbes Magazine as one of India’s most powerful rural entrepreneurs. He is an Ashoka Fellow and recipient of the Schwab Foundation “Social Entrepreneur of the Year” Award in 2012.
