Being the change

As chairperson of the British Asian Trust’s Children’s Protection Fund for India, Natasha Poonawalla is ready to reform policy and battle child trafficking.

- Sheree Gomes Gupta

Last month, in London, jet-set-ting entrepreneur and philan-thropist Natasha Poonawalla was appointed chairperson of the British Asian Trust’s Children’s Protection Fund for India by Prince Charles. This was not just in recognition of the multimillion pound pledge that Poonawalla had made in support of the fund, but also her long-standing commitment to causes involving underprivileged children. “I believe in walking the talk,” she says, “and leveraging my position and influence to bring about social reforms [in areas] that require immediate attention.” At 38, the mum of two is already a force to reckon with. Her work at the Serum Institute of India (the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, which provides life-saving immunobiologicals at affordable prices) and the Villoo Poonawalla Charitable Foundation cements her position as a leader of social change, quite like one of her personal heroes, American philanthropist Melinda Gates. Extracts from our conversation:

Sheree Gomes Gupta: What’s first on your agenda as chairperson?