Jyothi’s journey with Samvada dates back to 2009. She joined us as a librarian and office manager. The work exposed her to Samvada’s programmes, courses and workshops encouraging her to participate whenever she could.

Jyothi leaves no stone unturned to learn and build her capacity. Her journey from librarian to youth mentor and now Convenor of the Bangalore Youth Resource Centre (YRC) bears testimony to this fact! As does the fact that- she pursued M Com. via evening college while she was working, has completed PG Diploma in Ambedkar Studies, Diploma in Folklore and is currently pursuing MA Sociology. She got an understanding of youth work by observing how Samvada looked at youth and from her personal interactions with youth. Pursuing the youth work course and Diksoochi course on career guidance conducted by Samvada only deepened this understanding. From the beginning, Jyothi did not like to stay put in front of a computer; she has always liked to be up and about, keen to socialize and make connections. She had to take a 4 year break from work after giving birth to her son. Before rejoining Samvada she briefly worked for the organization Makkala Jagruthi.

Jyothi hails from the Mandya district. She moved to Bangalore in the 1990’s. She loves to sing and read. She can stitch and has experimented with stitching by designing salwars, saree blouses and bags for herself.

As a young girl, Jyothi dreamed of being a good teacher one day. Today, she believes that she is able to make more of a difference as a youth mentor than she ever could as a teacher and thinks she is in a better place because of it.