EquiBeing foundation is a public charitable trust formed with the vision to enable persons with disabilities to maximize their potential. We dream of a world that treats Persons with Disabilities with dignity and respect.
It all starts with a story… Our founder, Ananthalakshmi, grew up knowing she had a macular degenerative eye condition, which meant she would eventually lose her eyesight. Overcome with fear at the thought of life coming to a grinding halt once blindness set in, she began hiding her condition. After completing her education, she entered the corporate world, where she spent the next 25 years growing and working as a senior leader with multinational companies. These decades in the corporate world helped her realize that blindness was not a villain but a source of strength.
With this newfound perspective, she decided to pursue a doctorate at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, focusing on blind achievers and exploring what blindness truly meant, as well as how blind achievers transitioned to it. At the TISS campus, she met Afsal, a young blind scholar. Together, they shared a vision of using their lived experiences to help society understand how children with blindness and other disabilities could overcome social stigmatization and fear more swiftly. Joining them were Durga S., a chartered accountant and former school classmate of Ananthalakshmi, Vijay Pilay, a leader in the corporate sector, and Jayasankar SS, a senior banker and renowned social entrepreneur. Together, they founded the EquiBeing Foundation.
EquiBeing Foundation drives social impact through three main pillars Education, Health and Wellbeing, and Livelihood—supported by two foundational pillars: Research and Social Perception Change. Our Holistic Education Initiatives (HEI) promote inclusivity with programs such as EquiSpeak for communication, the Digital Literacy Project, CTPD for teacher development, and EquiSport and EquiJoy for physical and psychosocial support. EquiFloat, a flagship swimming program, enhances self-defense skills for children with visual impairments and challenges sports stigmas. The Health and Wellbeing pillar includes EquiJoy, a psychosocial rehabilitation program designed by EquiBeing for persons with disabilities who may also face other complex intersectionalities. In Livelihood, we focus on skill development and workplace inclusivity for persons with disabilities, complemented by Employee Engagement Surveys. Our Research efforts aim to conduct studies in the field of disability to understand past and present challenges at the root level, scientifically formulate sustainable solutions, and advocate for micro and macro-level policies. This research is conducted through direct interventions in the domains of Education, Health & Hygiene, and Livelihood. Social Perception Change uses digital campaigns and art to foster understanding and inclusion. This integrated approach aims to create sustainable, meaningful change in education, health and wellbeing, and livelihood while promoting disability acceptance.
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