Most people know me as…
Dream a Dream empowers young people from vulnerable backgrounds to overcome adversity and flourish in a fast changing world.
Founded by Vishal Talreja, Supported by the Chintu Gudiya Foundation and administered by Dasra, The Cocoon Initiative supports civil society leaders in India to take a sabbatical.
Goonj is a NGO which undertakes disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development in parts of 23 states across India.
Ashoka Fellows are the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. They champion innovative new ideas that transform society’s systems, providing benefits for everyone and improving the lives of millions of people.
Eisenhower Fellows build bridges of understanding across borders and cultures and work together to better our world.
Salzburg Global Seminar invests in rising leaders as an essential part of long-term change management. It helps their Fellows to reach broader audiences and by connecting them with valuable new contacts in their region or thematic field, thereby creating long term collaborative hubs as drivers for global change.
Vishal Talreja
Social Entrepreneur | Educator | Writer | Poet
Vishal Talreja co-founded Dream a Dream along with 11 others. Dream a Dream is a registered, charitable trust empowering children and young people from vulnerable backgrounds to overcome adversity and flourish in the 21st century using a creative life skills approach. Currently, works with 10,000 young people a year through two innovation labs – After School Life Skills Programme and Career Connect Programme; has trained over 35,000 teachers/educators impacting over 875,000 children and young people and impact over 3+ Million children through various state government partnerships in Delhi, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Nagaland and Karnataka.
Vishal is an Ashoka Fellow, an Eisenhower Fellow, a Salzburg Global Fellow and a Board Member at Goonj. He has previously been a Founder Director of Unltd India and Board Member at India Cares Foundation and at PYE Global.
Vishal is an Executive Committee Member of Karanga – A Global Alliance on Social Emotional Learning and Life Skills. He is a Founding Member of The Weaving Lab – A Global Learning Ecosystem of weavers who are advancing the practice and profession of weaving thriving learning ecosystems. He is a Member of Catalyst 2030 – A global movement of social change innovators collaborating to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He is also part of the Informal Working Group on the Future of Education & Skills 2030 project by OECD where he has been a Co-chair and Moderator at various convenings. He is a member of the Education Working Group of G20 Interfaith Forum. He contributes to global education narratives through participation in various steering committees and working groups with the likes of WISE, G20, Catalyst 2030, HundrED, Big Change and OECD.
Vishal has been recognized as an “Architect of the Future” by the Waldzell Institut in Austria. He is also an advisor and mentor to Reap Benefit and is deeply committed to mentoring start-up NGOs and young social entrepreneurs. He is a TEDx Speaker, active writer on development challenges and human-interest stories (https://medium.com/@vishaltalreja) and a poet. In 2018, he was awarded the ‘Heroes of Bengaluru’ award.
He has also co-authored a book, ‘When We Thrive, Our World Thrives’ along with with Dr Connie K Chung and Dream a Dream staff and participants. He has also published a book of poems called, ‘My Soul Stirring’.
Vishal has contributed to various research papers, white papers, articles and policy briefs. Notable among them, he has co-authored the following Research papers –
In 2023, Vishal founded a new initiative called The Cocoon Initiative designed to support civil society leaders in India to take a sabbatical.
Vishal has completed his graduation in Commerce and Accounting from Bangalore University and previously worked with Xerox India and an investment bank called Technology Holdings India Pvt. Ltd. He was an active member of AIESEC, an international student-led organization with presence in over 80 countries, during his college days.
Vishal believes that if we can re-imagine learning to develop empathy, creative thinking, problem solving and collaborative working skills amongst young people, they will be able to overcome adversity and thrive in this fast-changing world.