The Goa School holds monthly talks. Each talk is an ‘Open Talk’ because we are open about sharing our knowledge and networks, because anyone can listen, and because we speak openly!
The Goa School’s talks are free for everyone. All live talks and events may be attended via this link. | (Note: Click here for Board Meetings only.)
See below for this year’s talks (2025). Previous years’ talks are available here: 2022 | 2023 | 2024.
OPEN TALK 2025
Jyotsna Brar is a renowned educationist, who has served as the Principal of Welham Girls’ School Dehradun, founded a girls’ school in Jodhpur and has been an advisor to the CBSE and CISCE Boards in India. She is also connected to establishments for persons with disabilities and a school for girls from weaker sections of society. In this fascinating talk, as both a lover and a teacher of literature, Jyotsna asks young people to imagine their lives as a novel, and to objectively analyse the way their lives are unfolding. In addition, she provides insights on how to get past things that do seem to be working out. She is in conversation with Kavita Dass, director of ICS Education Ltd and a member of the Board of Directors of The Goa School Trust. ICS Education Ltd promotes Human Resource development through career counselling and guidance programmes. Kavita is also an animal rights activist.
Rohina Dass studied international relations and worked on climate action as well as in the public health domain, before she realised that this ‘important’ work just was not for her. She pivoted early, and charted her own path by setting up a design firm at the age of 27. She is now in the throes of growing this work to serve a slew of clients, including supporting the work of other changemakers around her. Her message to young people wanting to make a change is that not everyone needs to bring about or cause ‘disruptive’ change: someone who has a clear vision and brings about incremental changes, counts just as much. She notes that those with a disruptive idea will still need people around them to make it work. Rohina is in conversation with Paloma Quadros, Operations Head at The Goa School.
Changemakers often wonder: ‘Where do we begin?’ in reference to organizing themselves and formalising their efforts. Three experts unpick this central question: Aastha Dua is a consultant who helps non-profits with assessing their social impact, and is an expert at program quality and design, as well as donor stewardship and communications. Jyotsna Kaur Habibullah is an entrepreneur who uses a hybrid profit/not-for-profit model to help small farmers get their produce to market, with a particular interest in women becoming independent entrepreneurs. Both, in conversation with Madhupriya, a Fellow of The Goa School, who started her own enterprise focused on college sponsorships, ‘Heads Held High,’ provide insights on various models and their benefits. Jyotsna, whose platform ‘Lucknow Farmers Market’ is an association of over 5,000 brands in 14 years, says we should start small, and keep your eye on our central purpose. Aastha says we should introspect on how we would like to solve for social problems, before we can decide where in the arena to fit in: the not-for-profit sector, hybrid social impact enterprises, corporates with a social conscience, or even working for local government.
Nitya Jacob & Sunetra Lala wrote a book called ‘A Memoir of Two Toilet Inspectors,’ and, in their own words, “Shit stinks!” In this important talk about water, sanitation and hygiene, or WASH, they cover a range of issues, including what constitutes clean water, the fact that not a single Indian has access to it, and that the health and economic prosperity of our nation is in fact tied to the the link between ‘dirty’ water supply on the one hand, and our consumption of it, on the other. Each speaker brings nearly 20 years of experience from the WASH sector, having worked with the UN and development agencies: Sunetra advocates for better ownership of services in rural and urban settings, and Nitya focusses on strategy and development planning. In conversation with Madhuri Dass Woudenberg, Founder-Director of The Goa School, Nitya makes a plea for understanding where our water comes from (rivers, lakes and other water reservoirs), and where it goes (from the toilet), and Sunetra says that WASH services need to be made more equitable and inclusive.
Vicky Roy is a photographer who grew up on the streets of New Delhi. Originally from West Bengal, he ran away from home to make a new life as an eleven-year-old boy. He lived on the railway platform and soon came into contact with the Salaam Baalak Trust, an NGO that supports street children in India, where he was first encouraged to take up photography. Vicky never looked back. His publication ‘Home Street Home’ is a visual telling of his own life in a shelter home. His images have been exhibited at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, he was selected by the Maybach Foundation to document the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in New York, was awarded the MIT Media Fellowship in 2014 and was listed in Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30 in 2016 — to name just a few of his achievements as a photographer. Vicky tells his story at The Goa School, unpacking not only how he develops his gaze, how he benefitted from mentoring but also why he gives back to society despite having very few resources himself. Vicky is in conversation with Rohit Kumar, a Fellow of The Goa School and a keen photographer in his spare time, as well as Madhuri Dass Woudenberg, Founder-Director of The Goa School.