Priya Gupta: Bridge the Gap Between Policy Intent and Lived Reality to Drive Lasting Social Change [Sarvpriye Foundation, Public Policy, 22K Followers, India]

 Priya Gupta Interview

Public policy practitioner, IIM Kozhikode alumna, and Sarvpriye Foundation founder Priya Gupta works at the intersection of inclusive development, gender, and social innovation. Drawing on her experience across academia, government, and civil society, she discusses building SARTHI, a tech-enabled ecosystem reimagining eldercare and explains why sustainable social impact requires bridging the gap between policy intent and lived realities.

Q. What first drew you towards public policy and social impact, and what made you decide to build your career in this space?

My journey into public policy was not a linear career decision; it was a gradual realization that many of the problems we call “social” are actually questions of systems, institutions, and policy.

Over the years, working across government, academia, development programs, industry, and civil society, I began seeing the same pattern: a good idea can transform lives, but unless the ecosystem around it changes, its impact remains limited.

That is what drew me towards public policy and social impact. I wanted to work at the intersection of people, policy, and institutions, to understand not just what problem exists, but why it persists and what can be redesigned.

Sarvpriye Foundation appeared from that conviction. For me, social impact is not charity; it is about creating pathways to agency, dignity, opportunity, and systemic change. My work today sits at several intersections, gender, care economy, aging, inclusive development, entrepreneurship, and geopolitics, and intersectionality is where some of the most meaningful solutions appear.

Q. You founded Sarvpriye Foundation with a focus on women’s empowerment and inclusive development. What was the gap you saw that made you feel there was a need to build something of your own?

When I started Sarvpriye Foundation, I was struck by the distance between policy intent and lived reality.

There were programs, institutions, and resources addressing women’s empowerment and development, but often the last mile remained fragmented. Women had capabilities but lacked access; communities had ideas but lacked platforms; and social innovators often had solutions but struggled to navigate institutions and scale.

I wanted to build an organization that could work across those boundaries rather than remain confined to one sector.

Sarvpriye therefore became a space where research could inform action, communities could shape solutions, and partnerships could turn pilots into scalable models.

Our work with women entrepreneurs, artisans, young innovators, and communities has reinforced one belief for me: inclusion cannot simply mean bringing people into an existing system. Sometimes, we must redesign the system so that more people can take part meaningfully in the first place.

That philosophy continues to guide Sarvpriye today.

Q. You work closely around the care economy, aging, and unpaid care work. What made these issues personally important to you, and why do you think they deserve more attention today?

The care economy became important to me when I began looking at what conventional economic indicators often fail to capture, the enormous amount of work that keeps families, communities, and economies functioning but remains largely invisible.

Unpaid care work is not “non-work.” It is an economic contribution without a salary, a designation, or often even recognition.

My research and engagement around gender and unpaid care work made me realize that care is deeply connected to women’s economic participation, aging, migration, social protection, and even broader questions of development and geopolitics.

Aging adds another important dimension. India is changing demographically, while our systems of family care, employment, and mobility are changing simultaneously. We therefore need to ask: Who will provide care? Who will receive it? Who will pay for it? And how do we ensure that care stays dignified for both the caregiver and the person receiving care?

For me, the care economy is about recognizing something fundamental: care is infrastructure. And societies that do not invest in care eventually pay the price elsewhere.

Q. You are now building SARTHI as a technology-enabled aging and care ecosystem. What does SARTHI look like on the ground, and what change are you hoping it can bring to the lives of elders and their families?

SARTHI began with a simple question: Can we reimagine aging not around dependency, but around dignity, participation, and intergenerational connection?

It has evolved into a technology-enabled aging and care ecosystem that seeks to connect elders, families, caregivers, and the wider community. On the ground, SARTHI brings together two dimensions that are often separated. One is the practical need for reliable and verified care support for older persons and families. The other is the enormous knowledge, experience, and social capital that senior citizens themselves possess.

So, we do not see elders merely as beneficiaries. We see them as participants, mentors, knowledge-holders, and contributors. We have completed the initial study and developed a prototype, and we are now looking to build partnerships for the next stage of technology development and piloting.

Ultimately, I want SARTHI to help create a culture where aging is not treated as a period of withdrawal from society, but as another chapter of purpose, connection, and contribution. If technology can make care more accessible while also making aging more dignified, connected, and participatory, then technology has genuinely served society.

Q. You have worked with universities, corporates, government-supported programs, and emerging social innovators. What is one thing you have learned from working with so many kinds of people and institutions?

The biggest lesson has been that no single institution has the complete answer.

Academia brings rigor. Government brings scale. Corporates bring resources and execution capabilities. Civil society brings proximity to communities. And young social innovators often bring the courage to question assumptions.

The real opportunity lies in connecting these strengths.

I have also learnt that collaboration is not simply about putting logos together on a project. Good collaboration requires a shared problem statement, mutual ownership, and the willingness to listen across institutional languages.

Working across these ecosystems has made me increasingly comfortable being a “translator” between worlds, taking research into practice, taking community realities into policy conversations, and bringing public-policy perspectives into corporate and institutional decision-making.

That, for me, is where meaningful social innovation happens: at the intersection of expertise, empathy, and execution.

Q. And finally, let us end on a lighter note. Is there a book, story, series, or movie that has influenced you personally or that you genuinely enjoy and would love to recommend to our audience?

One book I would genuinely recommend is Factfulness by Hans Rosling.

What stayed with me is its insistence on questioning our assumptions about the world. We often approach social problems through narratives that are emotionally powerful but not always supported by evidence. For someone working in public policy and social impact, that distinction matters enormously.

The book reminded me that optimism should not mean ignoring problems; it should mean believing that problems can be understood, measured, and solved. That philosophy resonates strongly with how I approach my own work at Sarvpriye Foundation: start with empathy, but build solutions with evidence; listen to communities, but also interrogate the system; and never confuse a compelling narrative with the complete picture. I think that is a useful philosophy not only for social impact, but for life in general.

BIO

Priya Gupta is a public policy practitioner, social innovator, and the founder of Sarvpriye Foundation. An IIM Kozhikode graduate, her work operates across inclusive development, gender, and the care economy, focusing on bridging the gap between policy research and sustainable community implementation. Through her foundation, she is building SĀRTHI, a tech-driven eldercare ecosystem designed to provide dignified support for seniors while generating livelihood opportunities for youth and women. She has engaged with over 100 corporate and academic institutions, served as Chairperson of the Women's Forum (IIA India - Delhi Chapter), and continues to mentor social impact innovators through government and university incubation networks.

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Interviewed By Ritika Tawar