This episodes speaker is Kanika. After 16 years of designing and facilitating interventions for youth centric development, Kanika sees herself as an advocate for youth work in India, a passion that befits her current role as Convener of ComMutiny – The Youth Collective. She comes with a Bachelors’ degree in Psychology from Lady Shri Ram College and a Masters’ degree in Social Development from the University of Sussex. During a gap year between her two degrees, Kanika volunteered at the relief camps in Ahmedabad post the Godhra riots of 2002. This was a turning point in her life, and so began her journey into the world of self-transformation and social change.
Kanika started her career, working in the area of inclusion at the National Centre from Promotion of Employment for disability sector, where she coordinated and facilitated a national network of Disability Rights’ organisations. Thereafter, she moved to Pravah, where she worked in direct programmes with adolescents, youth and youth workers. As a mentor to several young social entrepreneurs, Kanika has been a part of the conception and growth of many youth led start-ups in the sector.
In her current role at ComMutiny, Kanika supports the facilitation of a national collective of over 100 organisations spread across 17 states. Additionally, she is part of the core team that facilitates the vartaLeap Coalition – a cross-sectoral, multi-disciplinary coalition that is working towards the shared mission of ‘Every youth a Jagrik and every Space nurturing Jagriks’. She is entrusted to build partnerships and alliances towards amplifying the 5th Space approach to youth centric development, this includes co-designing and co-creating tools, learning journeys, games, leadership curricula, facilitator’s guides and videos, along with the ComMutiny and vartaLeap teams.
Through both spaces, Kanika’s recent work has focused on designing, piloting and scaling innovations around inclusion – inclusion of young people and their voices through the Youth Duties and Rights Framework, promoting inclusion and harmony among young people through cross border friendships, creating gender justice by questioning norms around masculinities.
Durga as a citizen sector organisation wants to build power and resilience in youth to act against sexual harassment in public spaces and also work towards a Gender Just society. Towards this, we do various strategic activities around engaging with youth in various places like colleges, schools, events, online forums, and also through active campaigning. Some of our efforts include VOICE (Gender Justice) labs in educational institutions, DAREs (Real Heroes who will be active bystanders) on streets, Unlikely Allies (with men, BMTC drivers, and Paurakarmika women) as well as social audits of public spaces that women should rightfully occupy.
To continue with this and show support to the Global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, Durga launched the India Gender Equity Week leading to the first-ever virtual forum named NGAGE to bring youth and others together to create awareness on the women’s movement, the issues of intersectionality, and also solutions aligned with the constitutional rights bestowed on citizens. The Fireside Chat is a continuation of the NGAGE forum. Through the Fireside Chats, Priya from DURGA speaks to Gender Justice activists across the country on their activism and inspiration to youth to further the movement.
Do you want to know what drives a true Activist? Listen to our Fireside conversations curated only for you - to question and dissent in your own way!
