Know Our Team: Using Tech for Social Good
Know Our Team is a series that attempts to bring to you the stories of our team, share our experiences, why we do what we do and special moments that have left an indelible mark in each of our lives.
Rahul Ranjan Srivastava is an IT product enthusiast and a works as a full-time Product Manager and a part-time strategist for multiple companies. He believes in the power of IT to solve complex problems of India and has been working in the field of Education, Transparency in commerce and now aspires to make a mark in women safety.
It was a lazy Saturday morning in November 2016 when I walked into a session at the ‘Global Leader Experiences’ at my B-School. I was hooked within seconds. My IT geek mind was blown away at the simple use of technology against sexual harassment and gender based inequalities. I wrote to Ashwini enquiring whether I could contribute to Safecity who then connected me to Elsa. The sheer energy, passion and commitment which Elsa has for the cause has been inspirational for me.
I began working on the concept of an app to ease crowdsourced reporting of sexual harassment. We wanted to provide technological weapon to authorities and society to fight against Gender based Inequalities. Through Safecity, I got the opportunity to lead the design and development of a massive global project. It took us about 10 months to complete the project from ideation and design of the app to its testing and finally, its release.
The app is now live globally and is active in 7 countries across 5 Continents and is available in 3 languages. The response has been overwhelming and we have received endorsements from influential global luminaries.
Safecity gives me a wonderful opportunity to enhance my professional skills while pursuing my passion for social work. In the past year I have led projects on massive price negotiations, vendor management, product design, project management, digital marketing, data analytics, chatbot technology, machine learning and much more. I had the opportunity to work with veterans like Mr. Parag Parikh and Mangesh Kushe from TCS and a host of international partners and young Interns. It feels great to have so much responsibility and freedom at this age.
These projects have given me respect and International recognition and I have been selected to represent India and my company Unilever at the One Young World Summit in Bogota.
Beyond learning, recognition, respect and responsibilities, there is something which Safecity provides to everyone who is involved in any capacity and that is satisfaction. Everything I have worked on, everything I have ideated, designed and implemented will impact the lives of people. It has the potential to save lives, create revolutions, eradicate injustice and empower the oppressed.
A big shout out to my colleagues at Safecity- Vihang, Sagar, Suharika, Utkal, Renita, Danny and the complete website team and of course the leaders by inspiration, Supreet and Elsa.
