Radha Goenka

Director, RPG Foundation and Founder, Pehlay Akshar, The Heritage Project, NatureRe

Radha Goenka is a serial social entrepreneur and philanthropist whose journey spans nearly two decades of building ecosystems in Education, Heritage, and Environment. She is a thought leader with perspectives on creating change with a unique blend of being both a practitioner and a funder. Her early work focused on building an ecosystem of learning and teaching English in government schools while her latest nonprofits are building city level ecosystems for heritage preservation and environmental conservation.

Pehlay Akshar Foundation works to empower every child in India with English literacy and 21st-century skills to make them job-ready. It has trained 14,000 teachers and impacted learning outcomes of over 2,00,000 students. The Foundation’s flagship interventions: The Pehlay Akshar English Room – an innovative learning environment, and The Pehlay Akshar English Room on Wheels – a mobile learning model – bring learning closer to children.

The Heritage Project works to preserve India’s tangible and intangible heritage. Through active involvement of the community and government in the Foundation’s work, it helps build a sense of shared value and ownership for the sites. The Foundation’s interventions include the Sacred Banganga site, known for its centuries old step well, and the Worli Koliwada – a small urban fishing village where the original inhabitants of Mumbai, the kolis live – enabling the community to gain financial independence.

As Founder of NatureRe, Radha is leading an ambitious effort to restore India’s natural ecosystems through the implementation of sustainable practices related to land, water, and farm. The Foundation’s flagship initiatives — The Green Corridor Project – which cools the city, cleans the air, and supports pollinators through urban forests, The Blue Corridor Project – which restores marine habitats and biodiversity, and The Farm Project – which nourishes the land with regenerative agriculture practices – reflect this systems-level thinking.

She is also a passionate writer who champions women’s empowerment, with articles featured in esteemed publications such as Tatler, Condé Nast, The Indian Express, and other national papers. A graduate in Business Communication from the University of Pennsylvania, Radha reflects a deep commitment to creating lasting systemic change through models that are replicable, sustainable, and scalable.