Kiran is a thinker, practitioner and bridge builder helping nonprofit leaders and funders rethink the systems they've inherited for new generations and massively shifting landscapes.
Future generations will judge us not by what we say, but what we do.— Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
2030: The first five-generation workforce.
We're closing in on a monumental shift. Gen Z is already reshaping how we work and make social impact, Gen Alpha is next, and Gen Beta will eventually follow — each expecting more socially responsive, digitally competent, AI-native ways of working, funding and leading.
But the systems around the nonprofit sector still remain remarkably familiar.
The social impact sector has a choice. It can continue asking new generations to adapt to old systems. Or it can start designing systems that are ready for them. I’m interested in bridging that gap.
Nonprofits are bracing to employ a generation they weren't built for — and funders are backing a new generation of founders and leaders who are already leading.
I work at both ends of that gap — helping nonprofit leaders rethink the institutions they've inherited, and helping funders understand who they're really funding next.
For over a decade, my work has sat at the intersection of young people, culture and systems, where I apply this three-pillar framework — because I believe systems should be built for who's actually here, not who they were designed for decades ago:
Questioning how systems came to be, and who they were really built for.
Rebuilding funding, leadership and culture models for who's here now.
Preparing organisations for who's coming next: Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and eventually Gen Beta.
I've spent over a decade in the nonprofit sector, working alongside young people as they navigate institutions, communities and a world undergoing enormous change. In 2016, I co-founded multi-award-winning GirlDreamer with a friend, no networks and £500 in savings — it's since grown into an international organisation fundraising close to £2 million, and one of the few specialist national organisations in the UK led by and serving young global majority women.
GirlDreamer launched the Dream Fund in 2020, when 9 in 10 charities led by people of colour in the UK were at risk of closure within three months (Ubele Initiative). It's since grown into one of the UK's only women of colour-led organisations operating an independent micro-grant fund exclusively for women of colour-led social impact organisations.
Alongside GirlDreamer, I'm an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Birmingham (Russell Group, ranked in the world's top 100) — the first person seconded there to research the Human Experiential Value (HEV) framework, alongside gender and race equity and how faith, values and lived experience shape leadership. I'm also co-host of Home Girls Unite, a weekly podcast for eldest daughters navigating the weight of growing up too fast.
The questions Kiran explores aren't theoretical. She's spent over a decade building, leading, funding, adapting and learning in real time and from the ground up. Her lived and learned expertise lies in:
For a detailed list of my signature talks download the speaking kit below.
Interactive sessions for nonprofit leaders, funders and teams exploring intergenerational leadership, funding, organisational resilience and the future of the social impact sector.
Explore workshops →A space for social impact leaders and funders to think, question, navigate and hold space for their wellbeing with someone who has spent over a decade building in the sector.
Explore coaching →For conferences, events and organisations looking for a candid practitioner perspective on the future of nonprofits, funding, leadership and social impact.
Invite Kiran to speak →An insightful message, delivered with the appropriate level of urgency. The unprecedented generational differences and effects on staff cohesion, and effective teams is something that has already helped me in decisions when running my organisation.
We have loved working with Kiran. She made the experience really fun and engaging, and brought a lot of empathy, honesty and great feedback to us. I was also very impressed with how perceptive she was and how well she resolved the tension around authenticity and credibility.
Kiran’s delivery was exactly perfect, with so many resonant messages – and we couldn't have hoped for a better story or friend to facilitate the future vision/strategy workshop. We’re so in awe of her journey and her work. Her ability to carry herself with such combined confidence and vulnerability, and to talk about that journey so powerfully, is deeply special.
Tell me a little about your work and what you have in mind — a keynote, a workshop series, or coaching support. Alternatively, we can create something bespoke together. I read every message myself.