Our Story
To our parents who role modeled lifelong learning and giving,
leaving us no excuse not to do the same
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Soniya's late mother, Saroj Carvalho, loved children from the very core of her being. A visionary institution-builder, who dedicated her life to children’s education through a school she founded, she could always find a way to make learning fun. Once when a little boy in her school showed hardly any interest in learning his ABCs, she took to etching the letters in the sandpit every morning with tree twigs lying around the garden. Then she began requesting the little boy to use nothing but his tiny feet to speedily “destroy” each of the letters she called out at random. Now that learning was fun, it didn't take long for the little boy to master his ABCs and to proudly show off his newly acquired letter recognition skill.
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Lift-Up was inspired by what we learned along our own journeys growing up, and raising our daughter.
Parenting has been called the ultimate long-term investment—one of the most complex jobs we will ever face in our lifetimes, but also one with huge rewards.
We are two development economists, born in India, living in Washington D.C., and working internationally. Our goal is to equip parents worldwide—be it in Africa, America, Asia, or Europe—with tips drawn from recent scientific research, experiences of others, and the do’s and don’ts we have learned from our experiences.
Lift-Up provides parenting tips for thriving in the 21st century and focuses on skills such as creativity, courage, confidence, compassion, collaboration, communication, adaptability, resilience, and, importantly, the ability to ‘learn to learn.’
Our dream is to especially serve those without access to parenting resources, so they too can give their children a head start in life.
It is our conviction that every child is born to thrive. Lift-Up aims to make that happen, one tip at a time.
Saumya Mitra
Parent and Development Economist (Oxford University)
Soniya Carvalho
Parent and Development Economist (Cambridge University)