Arundhati Ghosh, Executive Director, India Foundation for the Arts (IFA)
Arundhati joined IFA as its first fundraiser in 2001. She assumed office as the Executive Director on June 01, 2013, after completing 12 years with the Foundation.
Podcast
Overview
Today at The Brand Called You, we welcome another leader from the social sector, Arundhati Ghosh in conversation with our host Ashutosh Garg about Art in its various forms and how Arundhati’s organization is helping the artists grow. Arundhati shares the key moments in her life with us. She shares how realizing that her work should align with her personal values was a huge milestone in her life. She left her corporate career and started her journey in the social sector. She is now the Executive Director of the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) and she is here to share her experience of working with the organization. IFA supports arts and culture projects around the country from every discipline, language, and form. The foundation raises funds from different sources to support these artists by giving them grants, ranging from 25,000 rupees to 6,00,000 rupees. IFA has supported 680 projects over the last 25 years with grants of above 23 crores! Arundhati tells us how the organization selects its projects. She shares that the projects should be relevant and meaningful. She shares a few things about Project 560 where women and trans women from Bangalore painted beautiful murals on the city describing how they see their life and the people around them.
“Art enables you to ask questions about yesterday, understand and reflect about today, and gives you tools to imagine a better tomorrow for everyone,”
Arundhati explains the importance of art for our viewers. She also remarks that art makes us more human. She talks a little about people pursuing their art despite their family background who eventually have to leave their art to earn a living, which is why organizations like IFA are so important for the artist community. Tune in to listen to this great conversation and get inspired!
Profile
Arundhati Ghosh has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Presidency College, Kolkata, and a postgraduate degree in Management from the Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad. After spending seven years in the corporate sector, Arundhati joined IFA as its first fundraiser in 2001. She assumed office as the Executive Director on June 01, 2013, after completing 12 years with the Foundation.
Arundhati has received recognition from several quarters for her work in the non-profit sector. In 2010 she received the Global Fundraiser Award from Resource Alliance International, the same year IFA won the ‘India NGO of the Year’ award in the medium category. She is a recipient of the fellowship under Chevening Clore Leadership Awards in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2015-2016 and has worked with the National Theatre, UK to recommend a strategy for their national reach.
