Anju Bhambhani

Indian social entrepreneur empowering rural girls through mobile education platforms

Anju Bhambhani (b. 1978) is a transformative social entrepreneur who created India's first mobile-based education network for rural girls. After witnessing high dropout rates among girls in Rajasthan villages, Bhambhani developed the ShikshaConnect platform in 2003. Her pioneering work includes:

• Over 10,000+ mobile learning centers in 200+ villages
• Customized curriculum in Hindi and regional dialects
• Real-time attendance tracking via SMS

By 2020, the initiative had helped 50,000 girls complete secondary education. Bhambhani's 2016 book "Educating India: Anju's Story" inspired similar programs across South Asia. She was awarded the UN Women's Changemaker Award in 2019 and recently launched the GirlsInnovation Lab to train girls in STEM fields. Her TEDx talk "Connecting the Unconnected" has over 2 million views.