Rachana Prasad

About Founder

Rachana Prasad

Founder – Managing Trustee – Chiranthana

Founder – Director at Art Courtyard Productions, A special educator, Rex Karamveer Chakra Awardee,

XIAOMI Women Achiever of the year 2022

A Theatre Actor and Director, POSH Committee Consultant at Chaitanya Fin Credit Pvt. Ltd.

Rachana started Chiranthana, a not-for-profit organization, 15 years ago when she found out that her daughter was a child with special needs. She then quit her corporate job and started Chiranthana, to make an impact in the field of disabilities. She became a certified special educator from the Spastics Society of Karnataka and ever since, she has been working on content development socio-emotional learning, and various therapies.

Her work extended to urban and rural areas, both with typical and atypical children. She has worked with Down syndrome, Autism, Cerebral palsy Dyslexia, and other difficulties. Today, Chiranthana has its Head Office in Bengaluru with a branch in Gubbi Taluk (Tumkur), making an impact in the lives of 500 + children and adults. She has been instrumental in creating employment for more than 50 people with disabilities across Karnataka.

Rachana started her career as an HR Executive and slowly rose to managerial positions before becoming an entrepreneur. She has a strong foundation in leadership, learning, and organizational development.

Rachana is a theatre artist, playwright, and filmmaker. Rachana has been instrumental in scripting, directing, and producing more than 35 theatrical productions independently across Bangalore and surrounding villages. Bharath Diaries, Ganga and her Friends, Man the Saviour, Bhalle Casa, Dhruva, Bala Vikasa, and Sattavaru Yaaru are some good examples of productions written, developed, and directed by Rachana. She recently premiered her short film, “I am Enough”, which was written and directed by her. She also has directed an International play, A Muslim in the midst which saw 8 shows in Bangalore.

Other Areas of Work

Women empowerment programs in urban and rural
Conducted sex education programs for young adults and adolescents in schools and colleges.
Health care among women in rural areas – Independent work by Chiranthana where more than 100 women were educated on the importance of menstrual hygiene and were distributed sanitary pads.
Training more than 1500 children from government schools across Karnataka on theatre and life skills as a part of Akshaya Patra Initiatives
Visiting faculty at Government schools and colleges to train students on life skills and expressive language
Acted in TV commercials and TV Serials
Been a speaker at the All India Down Syndrome Federation and have addressed more than 1000 parents of children with Down syndrome and taught them therapeutic tools to overcome disabilities.
Worked with adults at the Down Syndrome Federation and have trained adults on drama as a therapeutic tool.
ARYA, a school for the disabled – Worked with more than 100 children with disabilities like autism, CP, Down syndrome, etc.
Worked with students from rural areas on professional readiness, expressive language enhancement, confidence building, and other key skills.
A visiting faculty with many colleges, she has taught storytelling and communications to students, imparting education in ideating, conceptualizing, visual communications, scripting, characterization, and screenplay. Also, worked with corporates and helped them design training content and delivery.

Educational Qualification

MBA from Symbiosis, Pune (Human Resource Management), Training specialization from ISTD (Delhi), PG Diploma in Inclusive Education from Spastics Society of Karnataka, Theatre training course from Rangayana, Mysore

Associated Organizations & Affiliations

Founder – Director at Art Courtyard Productions, a Chiranthana offshoot that works with vocational skills, employment, and art-based programs.
External member and advisor – POSH committee, Chaitanya Fin Credit Pvt Ltd.
Member of Social Inclusion and Awareness at DNA (Disability Network Alliance)
Advisor at Nammerica – a Kannada media platform in the USA, which produces original content from all over the world.
Advisor, Programming at Prakasam, a theatre group in Bengaluru

Awards & Appreciation

Featured in – Better India, Women of Courage and Mums and Stories, NewsHook, YourStory, and Digvijaya news.
Awarded a Rex Karamveer Chakra Fellowship for her exemplary contribution to social space, XIAOMI Women Achiever of the Year 2022 for contribution in social space.
The SABERA Award for Social Leader of the Year was awarded to our founder Rachana Prasad at UNESCO in Delhi in December 2022.