Prema Gopalan

Prema Gopalan was an Indian social activist. She co-founded the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC) in 1984. She then founded and has been executive director of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) for over 20 years, supporting poor rural women in entrepreneurial schemes. She is also well known for disaster relief work in Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Gopalan has received awards from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Development Programme. She died on 29 March 2022 after a short illness at the age of 66.