“We started LEAD because we both are people who tend to solve a problem when it bothers us. Sumeet is from a small town, his parents were teachers. He realized that the opportunity available to kids from small towns is not the same as kids from large towns – he was one of the few privileged who got a good start.
As for me, when we came back to India, I saw slums in my vicinity and wondered what was happening to the kids there. And when I visited them, I was deeply disturbed. We decided our lives can’t be about just us and our kids. That’s what got us both into education.
We started with a school in a village in Gujarat, in 2013, with less than 15 kids. It was fun. Some of them continue to be with us, they are like our babies. They come from very humble farmer families, and when they talk with us fluently in English and with high confidence, it all feels worth it. Even today when we see videos and messages from kids learning with LEAD, it gets us more and more committed to our course.”
— Smita Deorah
Co-founder and Chief Learning Officer, LEAD
