Shibani Jain

Co-founder

Co-founder of Catalysts for Social Action

Shibani Jain is the co-founder of Catalysts for Social Action [1], an Indian non-profit working on orphans & child care, women & children, education and livelihood from Mumbai.

Shibani Jain, also known as Shibani Dasgupta Jain, is an Indian designer and a co-founder and trustee of Catalysts for Social Action (CSA), a non-profit organisation working with children in institutional care in India. She founded CSA in 2002 with Bharati Dasgupta and Vipul Jain.

CSA works inside child care institutions and orphanages, supporting children in residence and young adults leaving care, and promoting family-based alternatives to institutional care. The organisation reports having worked with children across several Indian states, including Maharashtra, Goa, Odisha and Karnataka.

Early life and education

Jain is a graduate of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Career

She began her career at Tata Interactive Systems in Mumbai as head of design, working on computer-based learning and user interface design.

Jain and her husband Vipul Jain, who is president of CSA, founded Catalysts for Social Action in September 2002. She and Vipul Jain are adoptive parents, and the organisation grew out of their experience of adoption in India. She sits on the CSA board.

Separately she founded Baaya Design, a Mumbai design studio and store that works with artisans and craft groups across India, and is convenor and a director of Hand for Handmade, an association of organisations working in the Indian handmade and craft sector.[2][3][4]

Catalysts for Social Action

Catalysts for Social Action (CSA) partners with government-recognised child care institutions across several Indian states to improve care standards, education, health and nutrition for children living in them. It also runs an aftercare programme supporting young adults who leave institutional care, and works on family-based alternative care and adoption advocacy. CSA publishes annual reports and financial statements going back to 2012-13.

Catalysts for Social Action reports the following, on its own site:

CSA reports 16,000+ children supported and 156 partner child care institutions impacted.
CSA reports 2,900+ young adults enrolled into its aftercare programme.
CSA reports 1,300+ young adults successfully placed in jobs through its aftercare programme.