Bharati Chaturvedi, SAIS '07 (MIPP), grew up in one of the few affluent neighborhoods in Delhi, India, which is among the world's poorest and most polluted cities. Although she was fortunate to enjoy the city's green spaces, she was aware that most of Delhi's population was living in very different circumstances.
"I would read about how the poor were forced to bear the double brunt of inequity and pollution, but I saw it only fleetingly," she says.
Chaturvedi became passionate about making an impact on the environment and addressing the issues surrounding the city's "wastepickers," the thousands of poor women and children who make a living collecting recyclable waste out of landfills and garbage dumps.
"They give the city and the country and in fact the planet free environmental services, but they remain extremely marginal," Chaturvedi says. "They stay at the bottom of the pyramid, whether you look at access to social security, to housing, to nutrition, to human rights. They're the invisible slaves of Indian cities."
In 2002, Chaturvedi established a nonprofit organization, Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, to target both the inequity experienced by wastepickers and the waste created by unsustainable consumption. Here, she explains why the challenges of running a nonprofit are outweighed by the rewards.
What inspired you to found Chintan?
The key reason I set up Chintan was because I couldn't find a job that would let me work on the issues that bothered me the most.
I had a very well-paid, boring stint at a wealthy donor agency in Delhi. Everything was plush and easy. I realized it wasn't for me and that I wanted to work for environmental justice in urban India and tackle the challenges India faced and the ruin of our cities.
I had spent a considerable amount of time in college tracking how waste was recycled and hanging out with wastepickers and aggregators and watching them interact with state actors. The stigma, the inequity, horrified me. I wanted to engage with that in a collective sort of way.
I had a plan about what to do, but not about how to do it. In the end, I established Chintan because I couldn't find a job that would allow me to do what I thought was new, needed, and green. I'd rather address issues that matter to me than have a really well-paying job that addresses issues that matter to others.
What have been the challenges of running a nonprofit?
I think more about the joys of running Chintan, but I'd say the two biggest challenges are building optimal teams and raising funds. The trials and tribulations of fundraising unite many nonprofit leaders.
An optimal team is one that is able to embrace multiple skills and capacities, from leadership to data to operations to communication, and deliver the results we are committed to. The challenge is that people take a while to learn and to sync with each other, so you might not find all the right people at the same time. So basically, as the director, you have to pitch in, find volunteers, or simply let things pass. Given that most founders turn into perfectionists, you have to re-train yourself to adapt to the circumstances.
Chintan also proactively focuses on enabling women to work with us. It is a part of many Indian women's lives to have to campaign to be allowed to work instead of staying home.
What has been the most rewarding part about running Chintan?
The sheer change at every level that we have been an important part of—that is my reward.
Chintan has played a part in putting waste workers on the front burner of both state and nonstate actors. We've worked with the poorest communities and enabled 10,000 children, 60% of whom are girls, to go to school instead of picking trash. We have created not just green livelihoods but also new models of how a circular economy can work in urban reality.
What are some of your future goals for Chintan?
We are building on our work and will continue to be a part of the ecosystem that is fighting air pollution with new audiences, new research, and new sources.
We will continue to fuel the green economy and amplify the voices of the least heard and those most impacted by environmental crises. I am still finding mutually fruitful ways to stay engaged with India's wastepickers and recyclers, and of course to work with wastepicker children so they are future-ready, not stuck in a toxic past.
What would you advise others who are thinking of starting a nonprofit?
I would say use your best skills to make an impact on things you care about. Find a co-founder you trust and find people to work with you who have the skills you lack. And be shameless about convincing others to join you because just one isn't enough. It's OK to hear no. It's OK to be a bit obsessive.
