Sunita

Sunita can still vividly recall the routine police harassment she endured growing up. After her father died when she was still a child, she was left as the sole carer for her disabled mother. Forced to drop out of school, she began begging to survive, which brought with it constant suspicion, accusations and shame.

As an adult, Sunita saw her community’s needs – like education and land rights – go unaddressed. As she watched girls have their potential written off, forced into marriage before their teens, she wanted more for them. But there seemed no way forward. One day, a rally championing Pardhi rights came through her village. Sunita made a decision.

“I realised that, if you want to make a difference, you have to raise your voice on your own and move outside of the stigma.” She started a small, community-run organisation, helping those facing discrimination. But her struggles were just beginning. “It was unheard of that a girl from the Pardhi community could start an organisation. There were no organisations which were from my community. I didn’t know how to begin.”

Despite incredible passion, many small community organisations like Sunita’s cannot survive without the right kind of support. Fortunately, GRI was there to provide it.

After joining GRI, the transformation was immediate. From accountants to project managers, GRI provided all the practical support needed: documentation, drafting policies, tailored training and even building the organisation’s website – resources Sunita would not have been able to access alone. No longer limited to a few villages or reliant on small donations, she could finally focus on what she did best: providing impactful solutions within her community.

GRI’s approach isn’t about imposing solutions from the outside. It’s about equipping grassroots leaders with the tools, skills and confidence to find their own. Through targeted funding, organisational development and leadership training, GRI helps community-led groups move out of survival mode and fulfil their potential.

Sunita’s organisation now operates in 30 villages, running mental health programmes in six and education and anti-discrimination initiatives in ten. They also support hundreds of people to secure land and reclaim their rights and legal identity – even elders in their seventies have been able to vote for the very first time, she says proudly.

“If GRI hadn’t helped us, we would have not come this far.”

Sunita’s journey is proof that while leadership can grow anywhere, when matched with practical, sustained support, it becomes unstoppable