Poornima’s journey with Samvada dates back to 2004. Since her first role as a librarian, she has grown her capacity immensely and has also seen the organization grow in leaps and bounds.

Poornima comes from the Shivamogga district of Karnataka. Her father, a man with a triple Master’s, a big deal in those days, has been major inspiration in her life- pushing her towards higher education and giving her strength to tide over challenges. She completed her education up to a BA in Kannada in her hometown. She was interested in pursuing an MA in Economics but life had other plans for her- she made a move to Bangalore with her family. Here, she signed up for a computer and tally course while being a homemaker.

Between 2002 and 2004, she worked as a receptionist and also got her first hands-on exposure to accounting. In 2004, she learnt about an opening at Samvada. Though reluctant at first, given it was a librarian’s role that she did not know much about, she nevertheless gave it a shot! She fondly recalls the warmth she experienced during the 2 rounds of interviews she went through to land the job as well as all years of mentoring from her peers, handholding in times of personal/ professional hurdles and the numerous opportunities she was given to grow professionally. During the 4 years after joining Samvada, Poornima also worked as an admin-assistant and dabbled with accounts once in a while. She credits her good typing skills for giving her, her first real opportunity to work with accounts- stepping in to reduce the workload of the then accounts manager. As the organization and its programmes expanded, there was a need to hire an Accounts Assistant. That’s when Poornima officially moved to the accounts department, in 2008 and currently holds the position of the Accounts Coordinator. From 2, her team has expanded to 4. Her journey this far has not been an easy one, but she is proud of how far she has come to stand on her own feet!