Lakshmi leads Parag’s vision and program implementation country wide across verticals. Previously, at Hasiru Dala, she initiated and led the Buguri Children’s Program setting up community libraries for children of waste pickers across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. For over a decade now, Lakshmi has worked with children experiencing social exclusion in government schools, special needs schools, remedial schools, and in disadvantaged communities. In an earlier avatar Lakshmi was a communication professional leading countrywide communication initiatives in IT organizations. In 2017, she was an artist in residence at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Warsaw, working on a project on children from abandoned mines in Poland. She was a fellow at the Arts or Good Fellowship 2019 at the Singapore International Foundation. Lakshmi writes regularly for Teacher Plus, a magazine for contemporary teachers. The work at Parag brings together her passion for stories, children’s literature and libraries. She is a self-certified cat slave and lives in Bangalore with her partner and two cats.