Empowering Change: Chitra Iyer, Co-Founder & CEO of Space2Grow, on Child Protection & Social Impact

In this insightful episode of The Brand Called You, host Ashutosh Garg interviews Chitra Iyer, Co-Founder & CEO of Space2Grow, a social impact consulting firm. With over 20 years of experience in the social sector, Chitra shares her journey of choosing social work over a corporate career and leading impactful initiatives in child protection, digital safety, and anti-human trafficking. Discover the realities and evolving challenges of child safety in a digital world, learn how Space2Grow bridges critical gaps across the social impact ecosystem, and hear powerful stories of resilience. Chitra also discusses the importance of strong parent-child relationships, policy reforms for child protection, and why businesses should prioritize child safety. This episode is a must-watch for parents, educators, changemakers, and anyone invested in building a safer future for children. 👉 Subscribe to our channel for more inspiring leadership stories and social impact conversations!

• 0:08Speaker 00

  Welcome to another episode of The Brand Called You, a podcast and podcast show that brings you leadership lessons, knowledge, experience and wisdom from thousands of successful individuals from around the world. I'm your host Ashok Toj Garg. And today I'm delighted to welcome a very senior and respected leader from the social sector from New Delhi, India, Chitra Ayr. Chitra, welcome to the show.

• 0:32Speaker 01

  Hi.

• 0:34Speaker 01

  Really excited.

• 0:35Speaker 00

  Thank you. Chitra is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Space to Grow. So Chitra, my first question, looking back over your journey, what first drew you towards the social sector when you could easily have pursued a career after studying economics and social work, a corporate career?

• 0:56Speaker 01

  So I don't know if the best word to use is a deviant, but I think I always wanted to be a deviant. So you know, in school, when I got like really high scores in my 10 standard, everybody thought that I'm going to take science and you know, get into medical or engineering or whatever. And I decided, no, I don't want to do science. I want to do commerce because I wanted to do economics. I took commerce and then everybody thought that, okay, now Delhi University, Bcom karegi and then she'll go to becoming a CA and I decided, nahi nahi, a mujhe economics oners hi karna hai. And I think jab economics oners kiya, everybody thought it's going to be MBA or MA economics in Delhi school. I said, no, no, I want to

• 1:41Speaker 01

  go and do this and get into social work. So I don't know, I think one definite thing was somehow never liked to be a part of a group probably. I just wanted to be different. But at the same time, since childhood and in school, I've interned and done a lot of work with blind school, with children, I used to work with even, you know, in the community, working with, you know, the helps children and teaching them and even I was eight year old. So I don't know, something somewhere always stayed. And while doing economics, I think one thing economics does teach you is that there is poverty, there is inequality, but it's so in the books that probably I wanted to go out, look at it in the real world and

• 2:26Speaker 01

  really figure out what I wanted to do. So I think definitely a sense of wanting to be different, but a sense of being close to reality was always something that really brought me to say doing social work. And that's how this and Bombay.

• 2:44Speaker 00

  Amazing. And you've done a lot of work in the area of human trafficking, child protection and digital safety. But these are all very emotionally demanding fields, Chitra. What has kept you motivated for over 20 years?

• 3:00Speaker 01

  I think the one thing is the trade off of not being in the corporate versus what really has stood out in terms of being in the social space has been one real thing that you're able to see reality, but you're able to see change as well. It's like, you know, it is not a disillusionment. Definitely at scale, if you have to do something, it's, you know, absolutely difficult, but at the same time, that's something that you are able to see. So one thing, I think motivation, you know, in a, in a sector like social sector cannot be a mood. It's not like you get up in the morning and I'm not feeling okay and

• 3:42Speaker 01

  I can't do this. So motivation is not a mood. So it's a, it's basically like a discipline, a discipline which is combined with passion. So motivation is every day morning. And I think that's what drives you and that's what continues to be there, you know, to work. And one little thing I wanted to share here is that while working in the human trafficking space, I was in one of the rescues that I had been in Haldia in West Bengal where we had actually rescued around about 20 odd girls, 80% of the girls were from Bangladesh and 20% from West Bengal itself. And when we got them and the police was there, we

• 4:25Speaker 01

  had to get their blood tests and their, all the medical tests and everything. And when we got them to a home, like a safe custody, like a childcare institution. And you know, they were there and you know, they basically hadn't slept for almost four or five days because the number of customers that they were getting every day was so much that night sleeps were never reality for them. So one of the girls, when I asked her as to, you know, did you sleep well last night? She said, didi, zindagi me choda saal me pehli baar main raat ko soi. So I think some of these survivors, some of their lives, some

• 5:06Speaker 01

  of the way they show resilience, even in pain, I think has kept that motivation going because every day morning when I get up, I feel like, okay, I mean, if, if they have the hope in people really making a change, we have to keep it driving. So yeah.

• 5:25Speaker 00

  Incredible. Incredible. Thank you for everything that you're doing. Chitra, let's come to your, you know, come on organization Space to Grow. Tell me about Space to Grow. What was the inspiration to, you know, establish Space to Grow? And what gap were you wanting to fill with this institution?

• 5:49Speaker 01

  So Space to Grow is a social impact consulting firm. We basically work on the issues of child protection, digital safety and to human trafficking and provide advisory and programmatic services to the government, philanthropy, investors and nonprofits. And why Space to Grow? Because while working in the nonprofit space and having worked very closely with the government and others, there was always this feeling that, you know, if you're working in one organization, you continue to do that and you also are constantly, you know, working on a particular issue. But there are enough and more organizations doing similar work who need the capacity, you know, to be able to come together into collective

• 6:33Speaker 01

  impact. While working in an anti-human trafficking organization, everything depends on funding. And you know, one of the times what happened was the FCRA of this particular organization was frozen and it took almost two years to get it back, you know, and there was a lot of work around it. And at that time, you know, I started feeling that just because funding dependent organizations cannot take care of survivors. Because if you have so many survivors, the organization had around 4,500 survivors that they were working with. And suddenly everything just came to a halt. So at that time, I felt that you need, you

• 7:14Speaker 01

  know, many such organizations working and just one organization cannot really fulfill what the collective need of a survivor is. And that's why Space to Grow was born, to really support and bridge that gap that existed in the sector, which is, you know, bringing funding to organizations, but also to be able to bring in technical expertise to organizations to speed their growth. So that's why Space to Grow. And one another thing was, there are not many organizations that are child protection, technical specialist consulting

• 7:54Speaker 01

  firms. So it was important to set up a consulting firm which could, you know, roll over the sleeves and be at the ground, but also work at the strategic level with the government, philanthropy and investors. So it was important to really bring all of that together. And that's how even the name Space to Grow, it's, it's, it's for growing of lot of organizations coming together as a collaborator.

• 8:17Speaker 00

  Correct. Well said. Chitra, from your experience, what are the biggest threats facing children today that parents often tend to underestimate?

• 8:28Speaker 01

  So one thing is that children today are digital natives. These are not children who did not have a phone when they were born. So all of them have seen, had a mobile phone or an access to a mobile phone. Even in rural India, what we have seen is that in researches that we have done, that 99% of the children have access to a phone, even if it's a shared device. So I think one of the things that parents underestimate is that they still feel that it's going to be a stranger in a playground who is a threat. They don't really see that there could be a stranger or a known person in the internet space who can actually

• 9:08Speaker 01

  be a threat. So the understanding of parents on the need for digital etiquettes, digital behaviors, digital discipline is something that parents absolutely seem to, you know, totally disregard in terms of, you know, looking at it as a threat. Of course, the digital space has a lot of benefits and there is so much that children are getting out of it. But I think being able to teach them how to navigate that safely is something that's extremely critical.

• 9:45Speaker 00

  Very interesting. Very interesting. And what are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about child safety?

• 9:54Speaker 01

  So, I think one of them and this has been a recent find even when we have done researches. Because many a times when training programs happen on digital safety and they start talking about safety, whether it is digital or offline. Everyone really speaks about one thing about all of this being like, you know, issue of stranger. Koi kahin kuchh kar sakte hai. But they don't see that it is in your inner surrounding and in the place that you are that there are people who can be threat as well. So, one of the reports by the WHO in a huge systematic review of what is happening in the digital space and the impact on children.

• 10:37Speaker 01

  It says that sixty percent of the children who are harmed online are harmed by people who they know.

• 10:43Speaker 00

  Correct.

• 10:44Speaker 01

  And also within our country itself, when we look at cases of POXO, which is the absolute child sexual abuse in the offline space. Over eighty percent of the perpetrators are within the community or close to the neighbor or there are incest. So, I think somewhere the whole misconception of all of this sitting outside somewhere and not really accepting that this can be within the space that we are. Actually also limits prevention and actually, you know, supporting children when they really need. Because many a times what happens is, you know, we've done a training program where

• 11:25Speaker 01

  when parents are told ki online space mein kuchh hua hai, the kids have said, come back and said, parents have said ki, online mein to hua hai to chhod do, koi baat. Ya phir family mein if a child comes and talks about a relative actually abusing, we would want to really not talk about it. So, I think there are some of the key misconceptions of all of this sitting outside, but this is pretty much inside.

• 11:50Speaker 00

  Very interesting. And yet, you know, areas like gaming, social media, AI, ed tech, these are all constantly bombarding every child. Where do you think parents should be most concerned?

• 12:05Speaker 01

  I think parents have to be concerned about one thing as to their relationship with their children. I think today it's not about anything but the conversation and their, you know, creating that safe space with their children where they can be open and talk. So, it's not about what a child is taught, but it is about what a child does in that critical moment. So, I think if, in the critical moment, if the parents have created that space that a child can pick up the phone and say, I'm in a mess right now and can you come and help? And if a parent can not with absolute zero judgment go and help the child,

• 12:47Speaker 01

  I think the parents would have done something really meaningful. But at the same time, I think a lot of onus and burden of responsibility comes on parents. But I think it's important that the entire ecosystem which actually protects children, which is both the school, the platforms and law enforcement. All of them have to come together and act and do their responsibilities. So, platforms can't say that we have a safety by design approach, but not really be responsive to the child when they are in a situation.

• 13:20Speaker 00

  Right.

• 13:21Speaker 01

  I think it's important that all of us have a role to play, but parents' role critically remains in terms of being able to create that safe space of being able to have a conversation.

• 13:32Speaker 00

  Hmm, well said. Chitra, you also worked extensively with survivors of trafficking. And you gave me the example a few minutes back about these girls you found who would come from Bangladesh and sleeping.

• 13:48Speaker 00

  How has trafficking evolved over the past decade and what are some of the controls that are being put in place?

• 13:55Speaker 01

  So, I think one of the key things that is happening in the trafficking space, I think, one is there is lot of, again, you know, demystification that needs to happen. So, people think that internet has really come up now and it's accentuated the problem. But honestly, even ten years back when we have actually, you know, I have worked in the anti-human trafficking space. We've seen that just a simple mobile repair shop is enough for actually trafficking a girl. Because you give the phone, the repair shop uses all the access and the contacts, reaches out to a girl and says that, you know, I'm in love with you and kind of stuff.

• 14:38Speaker 01

  And the girl is in an adolescent space figuring her own life and then that becomes like an enough, you know, trigger to actually get caught in a mess of trafficking. So, internet did not have to have that connection. It just had to have a mobile to actually get a girl laid out.

• 14:57Speaker 00

  Right.

• 14:58Speaker 01

  Online was always a problem. Offline traffickers used to go, like for example in West Bengal in lot of missing persons program cases when we have been to Jalpay Guri, they would say ki, madam koi aaya tha aur bachhi ko le gaya. But the same thing, two years back when we did a research on looking at virtual threats and real harm, like you know, what's happening. They said ki bachhiya Facebook pe thi aur gayab ho gaya. So, the whole way it is evolving is that all the offline traffickers now don't need to actually go into the community to lure a girl. They just can be in the hidden space of the technology where they can actually, you know,

• 15:41Speaker 01

  traffic girls or traffic boys and, you know, actual trafficking can evolve. What has really happened in terms of changes? I think one is two Supreme Court judgments which have come up very solid. One is a Supreme Court judgment which says that any kind of child sexual abuse material in the digital space which is being possessed by anybody or even transmitted is criminalized now. It's not that it's there and if it comes to me, I can say that, you know, it was just there with me. The fact that I own it is also criminalized. The second piece of judgment that has really come recently in the case of anti-human trafficking is

• 16:22Speaker 01

  victims have been given the right to rehabilitation end to end by the Supreme Court. So, it's a right that has been given to victims and that needs some amount of of course execution and everything by organizations, but the Supreme Court is also taking note of all of this.

• 16:38Speaker 00

  Hmm, very interesting. What have survivors taught you about resilience that the rest of us often overlook?

• 16:48Speaker 01

  I think for us, you know, sometimes Ashadhaji, it's like resilience comes from reading a book or probably going back to, you know, spirituality and doing a lot of things. I think for them resilience comes from pain.

• 17:03Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 17:04Speaker 01

  And I think being able to have resilience while you are in pain is the true resilience. Because their life will continue to have that story forever.

• 17:17Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:17Speaker 01

  But how are they using that pain to really fight back and come back again and again and say that, you know, I have won and I want to do this and I have hope for my life and I want to reach it? I think that is resilience. And to give an example, we had really looked at doing some skilling program in a childcare institution. And this is one of the kind in terms of skilling program. It was not like a typical chalo tailoring karte hai and all of that. It was more like digital literacy, like a BPO kind of training in a home. In the initial phases, one of the survivors who really, you know, totally struck me and will, I'll never be able to forget is that when we had given them pencils and sharpeners and all of that,

• 18:00Speaker 01

  she had just been rescued and came to the childcare institution. She was so much in anger and, you know, lack of trust that even jo pencil, jo shapener hota hai, uska jo blade hai, usse she cut herself, she harmed herself. And then because she felt guilty, she felt that she was the one who actually did what she did. And the program happened, the program ended, she was counseled of course and all of that happened. And once the program ended and when they were given certificates. So, she said something very beautiful. She said, this is the first program I've ever attended where I've learnt to respect my own self.

• 18:42Speaker 00

  Hmm.

• 18:43Speaker 01

  So, the whole shift from being guilty to actually being able to respect oneself. I think that little thing was a huge change. It's not about whether they get a job tomorrow, what are they doing? But the fact that their guilt can transform into respect for themselves, I think that is resilience.

• 19:05Speaker 00

  Very interesting, very interesting. Moving on, if you could recommend one major policy reform to improve child production in India, what would it be?

• 19:19Speaker 01

  So, two things, sorry, I'm gonna say, one is, uh, one is, uh, you know, there has to be time-bound redressal of cases for children and there are box of courts, there are courts which are specific to children. And I think that is something that is extremely critical, that there is time-bound redressal. Uh, the second thing that needs to really happen for children is that they, e- even though the court and the, uh, you know, laws talk about that the child does not have to be a witness and doesn't have to speak in front of the court. I think that needs to be done more.

• 20:00Speaker 01

  Children should not be brought in front of the court or in front of the criminals or in front of anybody. And their statements should be like a given and it cannot be questioned anywhere except in the most child-friendly manner. So I think really focusing on these two can really help. Uh, if the response system becomes better, the reporting gets better and it becomes easier for children to be able to come out and speak about it.

• 20:27Speaker 00

  Hmm. And you, uh, also, you know, work with corporate leaders. How do you convince corporate leaders that child safety and digital responsibility are business issues as well? And not just a CSR initiative?

• 20:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a challenge, it's a huge challenge because I think it's not about children specific because all corporates have different mandates and then they have to do their CSR's in their own mandated way. But I think somewhere, uh, as a country, we do not give importance to children so much. Uh, you know, and I think, I don't know if it's just because we feel that, you know, there are so many of them. But the whole point is that it's the so many of them who are gonna build the India tomorrow. So if there, even within the CSR budgets, if there could be a fraction of money that can be focused on children, whether it is education, health, child protection, I think that will go a long way, uh, in terms of support.

• 21:26Speaker 01

  And I think the second thing is, uh, we worked with a large ed tech company with Antu, uh, you know, and made them child safe in terms of their platforms, in terms of their work. And what really worked there was the connect of the founders to their own children.

• 21:44Speaker 00

  Right.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  It felt that, you know, if my child, I don't want to be harmed on any platform, then why would I want any other child to be harmed on any my platform? So I wanna really put in that investment. So really having founders who are absolutely aligned to children and safety and the future of children, I think can go a long way in terms of really convincing them that, you know, this is really making a difference.

• 22:12Speaker 00

  Very interesting. Chitra, I have time for two more questions for you.

• 22:15Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 22:16Speaker 00

  If you had the attention of every parent in India for one minute, what would you tell them?

• 22:27Speaker 01

  I think one, uh, thing that I would wanna tell them is, uh,

• 22:34Speaker 01

  basically to say that, you know, threats are not very far away, it's within the house. When you have a mobile phone, when you have a, you know, digital error, it's inside the house, it's not somewhere outside. But at the same time, I will go back and say the same thing, Ashish Toshji, build the beautiful relationship with your child. Be non-judgmental, create that safe space, continue to have conversations and make them feel that you are there. I mean, you know, just be there, you know, that's the most important thing.

• 23:06Speaker 00

  Absolutely. And my last question for you, Chitra, if space to grow succeeds beyond your expectations, what do you think India will look like 10 years from now?

• 23:18Speaker 01

  You will have a youth prime minister.

• 23:22Speaker 00

  Correct.

• 23:22Speaker 01

  You, you will have, you will have the voices of children, voices, uh, the agency of children reflecting in the entire political processes, in the governing processes, in the policy processes. And I think that's where we need to move as well because we do a lot of work without having their agency. And it's important that their agency gets reflected across and I think that's the priority for us as a country as well.

• 23:49Speaker 00

  Absolutely. And on that note, Chitra, I just want to say what a fascinating conversation this has been. I think the most powerful message that has come from you, other than so many different points, is how important the relationship is of every parent with their child. You know, if that is a strong bond, if that's a strong relationship, then steps will automatically get taken to protect the children.

• 24:14Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 24:14Speaker 00

  I just love the way you gave me the example of one, some leader who says that if I need to protect my children, why can I not protect the others as well? Thank you so much for everything that you're doing for children who are the future of our country through space to grow. Thank you for talking to me and all the way best, Yo.

• 24:33Speaker 01

  Thank you so much. It was a lovely conversation. Really loved it.

• 24:37Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 24:39Speaker 00

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• 24:52Speaker 00

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