Melting Pot

Smita Tharoor is the founder of Tharoor Associates, a training, coaching and organisational development company that understands the importance of the unconscious bias. She is a thought leader on unconscious bias, a keynote speaker, trainer and coach who understands the importance of stories – both personal and corporate- and its role in defining an organization's identity and practices. She is th...

Alexandra Kutas is the world’s first runway model in a wheelchair. Ukraine’s first fashion model with a disability and also an entrepreneur. A doctor’s mistake at birth resulted in Alexandra suffering a spinal cord injury and has been using a wheelchair from an early age. She has worked to support disability and mental health awareness in Ukraine and overseas. Alexandra demonstrates how the abilit...

Yasir Anwar is the Managing Director and Founder of Mahira Foundation. He has a graduate degree in History, University of Delhi and a Masters in Archaeology and Heritage Management from Indraprastha University, Delhi. He has been actively involved in Museums, Art Galleries and Cultural Organizations for nearly a decade. He was previously part of the curatorial team at Mehrangarh Museum, Jodhpur, R...

Rouble Nagi is the Founder of Rouble Nagi Art Foundation & Rouble Nagi Design Studio. She is an Award winning, internationally acclaimed artist with over 800 murals to her credit. With over 150 exhibitions worldwide.  She is a member of the India Design Council (IDC), and is one of the pioneers to start Mumbai beautification with ‘Art Installations’ around the city. An Artist and Social w...

Sam is an arts engagement specialist, working internationally with audiences, museum and heritage professionals to transform meaning and provide authentic engagement in programming, events and external communications.    She is an innovator who combines strategic marketing, education and arts administration to catalyse change and has run her own international arts organisation since 2014...

A Curator, Art Historian and Art Advisor based in Vilnius, Juste currently serves as a Board Member at Rupert, a centre for Art & Education in Vilnius, Lithuania, where she worked as a Director for 6 years.  She is also a Board Member at the Lithuanian Culture Institute and ArtVilnius. She holds an M.A. in History of Art from the University of St Andrews, Scotland and has previously worke...

Emilya Colliver, Art Pharmacy’s founder and CEO has over 18 years’ experience in the art world across the public and private sectors, Emilya is driven by her passion for supporting Australian art and the practitioners who create it. Her work is characterised by strong leadership, inclusivity, deep stakeholder engagement and a focus on creating outcomes which not only satisfy but exceed her clients...

Eliza is the inaugural Executive Director of Res Artis focused on fundraising, public profile and strategy for the organisation. Eliza served on the Res Artis Board of Directors from 2012 to 2016. Prior, Eliza worked as Arts Residencies Manager at Asialink.  Eliza has worked at a range of local and international institutions and organisations including Christie’s auction house in London, The...

Matthias holds three postgraduate degrees from the Royal College of Art, including a PhD in Innovation Management at the Department for Service Design. He authored the book "Intellectual Property, Design Innovation, and Entrepreneurship" published by Springer. In 2015 he was commissioned by the UK IPO to investigate the infringement of design rights in the UK before moving to Singapore to become H...

There would be no Melting Pot without you my special guests. Every single one of you inspires me to continue this journey. Thank you for believing in me and trusting me to share your personal stories! It gives me the confidence to soldier on and use my platform to build a community of passionate individuals who believe in the power of storytelling to bring change. Plenty more guests with lots more...

Sharon Louden is an artist, educator, advocate for artists , editor of the Living and Sustaining a Creative Life series of books, and the Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Visual Arts at Chautauqua Institution .  She graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University School of Art. Louden's work is held in major public and private collection...

A thank you note from the bottom of my heart my listeners! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saurabh Taneja graduated from IIT Delhi, and intended to move towards a career in the corporate sector. However due to a small stint as a volunteer, Saurabh discovered his passion for making a difference. In 2009, Saurabh became a fellow with Teach For India. During his fellowship, he taught in a municipal school in Mumbai where he found the disparity in the opportunities available for children co...

An Alumni of Akanksha, Nirjala has completed grade 10. She feels so blessed to be a part of the Akanksha school. Akanksha gave her the opportunity to play football and soon football became her passion and she got a chance to go to London and explore her passion even more. She went to a camp called KER, where she met 100's of revolutionaries. Nirjala soon got an opportunity to visit New York and be...

Sunita is a big art connoisseur and has donated several art pieces to benefit the Akanksha Foundation. She has helped several people from their New Jersey USA community to be a part of Akanksha and is now trying to do the same in the UK since she has recently moved there. Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/2Vf8vv8⠀ Spotify: https://buff.ly/2Vf8uHA⠀ Google Podcasts:https://buff.ly/2Vds6LX⠀ . . . . -Or...

Namrata Khanvilkar was an exceptional student in her school days at Acharya Vinoba Bhave School in Pune, and is still trail-blazing as an Akanksha Alumni.  She gained admission on a full ride scholarship to St. Olaf College in Minnesota, starting in Sept. 2017 and has recently graduated. She also studied for two years at UWC in Armenia, again on a full scholarship. Namrata is the first Akanks...

Fatema has studied in Akanksha for eleven years and has been raised by her mother. She lives in Mankhurd so it is hard to travel by train for half an hour in order to reach school.  But all these difficulties were nothing compared to the good quality education she has received from her school. Being a part of Akanksha has influenced her life to a great extent and has made her a confident indi...

Vidya is the CEO of Antara International, working to catalyze the delivery of public health solutions to improve maternal and child health outcomes.  She previously worked in management consulting and public health with McKinsey & Company and with their Global Public Health Practice. Vidya also worked in commercial asset management in renewable energy with sPower-AES.  Vidya is based...

Tahura is studying in 10th grade and Akanksha has been her support system since the first time she stepped in her school. She has been guided and always taught that it is okay to be different and we need to appreciate it. She is really fortunate to be an Akanksha student and has written a book this year!    Apple Podcasts: https://buff.ly/2Vf8vv8⠀ Spotify: https://buff.ly/2Vf8uHA⠀ G...

Jayshree has a master’s degree in Zoology from Pune University and is trained in Non-Profit Management and Leadership from the Boston University. She is also an India School Leadership Institute (ISLI) Fellow. She began her career as a research assistant at the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun and went on to work with World Wide Fund for Nature-India and New England Aquarium, Boston. After...

Alumni of 2013 batch of KCTVN, Yashodhara is pursuing a BPed (bachelor's in physical education) degree. She is also a professional Cyclist.  She has been competing for the last 6 years and her most recent achievement was representing India in the 2019 South Asian Games. She grabbed a third position in a downhill event - India's first International medal in downhill MTB. She believes that a fe...

Sejal has had an incredible 30 year career and joins the Akanksha family most recently from the Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), where she led a strategic initiative focused on engaging businesses in the community.  At CFT she worked with over 400 companies and also supported many individual donors with their philanthropic giving and engagement. Among other career highlights, she also s...

Preeti is 23 years old and a BA psychology graduate. She is an Akanksha alumni and has worked with Akanksha as an intern too.  “I believe that everyone should have a safe space for expression and therefore with 4 other friends we co-founded SHOR, a poetry club where people from all walks of life are welcomed to come and express themselves in whichever artistic form they wish to.” says Preeti...

Chinmaya is a 2012 Teach for India fellow and a founding member of the first ever standalone Secondary school in Pune. She has Completed her Bachelors degree  from Fergusson College, B.Ed. from SNDT University and a Masters from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS, Mumbai). During the two-year fellowship with Teach for India (Pune), she joined as a Secondary School English teacher at...

Currently studying in 9th grade at LAPMEMS school, Akanksha, Dhanashree is from Pune. Her journey until now is all about getting to know herself better and constantly learning new things and creating a positive impact on society. At Akanksha, she is being nurtured providing her the knowledge and skills to recognise and solve problems. She aspires to keep learning and work in the Indian Education S...