Anita Reddy

Reddy was born in Chennai to Ranjini Reddy and the industrialist and philanthropist Dwaraknath Reddy. She was educated at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh, went on to college in Chennai and later studied in California. She married Pratap Reddy, a son of K. Chengalaraya Reddy, the first chief minister of Mysore State.

Reddy began working in the social sector in the late 1970s. In 1980 she founded the Association for Voluntary Action and Services, of which she is founding and managing trustee, to improve the physical, social and economic conditions of urban slum dwellers and to support the rehabilitation and resettlement of slum communities. AVAS has worked on land tenure, low-cost housing and community organisation in Bangalore and elsewhere in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

In 1996 her father established the Dwaraknath Reddy Ramanarpanam Trust and placed it in her charge. Through the trust she runs DRIK, the Dwaraknath Reddy Institutes for Knowledge, and DRUVA, the Dwaraknath Reddy Centres for Upliftment of Village Artisans. DRUVA supports DWARAKA (Development of Weavers and Rural Artisans in Kalamkari Art), which works to make the kalamkari textile tradition of Andhra Pradesh economically viable for its artisans.

Reddy was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2011 for social work. Her other honours include the Mahila Sadhaki Award (1997), the Jean Harris Award from Rotary International, the Woman Achiever Award from Ladies Circle India, a Namma Bengaluru Award, a PRSI Award, the Kempegowda Award and a lifetime achievement award from the Telugu Association of North America.[2][3][4][5]