Anshuman Bapna is the Founder and CEO of Terra.do, a climate education and career platform founded in 2020. Terra.do’s goal is to get 100 million people working on climate solutions. Its flagship program, Climate Change: Learning for Action, is a 12-week program covering the causes and impacts of climate change and potential solutions. The program includes assignments, live workshops and conversations with guest experts, and opportunities to connect with mentors and other participants.
Bapna is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded and sold his first startup while studying at IIT Bombay. He later earned an MBA from Stanford and worked at Deloitte and Google before starting an online travel company and becoming Chief Product Officer at MakeMyTrip following its acquisition of the company. In 2020, Bapna decided to pursue work related to climate change. He found it difficult to determine what climate-specific role he could move into and, through that experience, identified an opportunity to help other people facing similar challenges.
Terra.do has a multidisciplinary team covering leadership, product and technology, growth, climate education, and program design and learning. The team includes people with experience in climate, sustainability, technology, product development, and education, as well as instructors and mentors who contribute to its programs. Terra.do also works with a range of climate experts, including academics and practitioners from organizations and universities in the United States, India, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
What I find most interesting about Bapna is the combination of a personal motivation to work on climate with a background in technology, product development, and entrepreneurship. His own experience trying to move into climate helped him identify a broader problem, but recognizing the problem was only the beginning. Terra.do is trying to connect climate education, career development, professional networks, and employment opportunities, which makes it a complicated venture to build. I think Bapna’s business and technology experience was particularly important in turning the idea into a viable company. He also did not need to become the climate expert himself; instead, he built a team with expertise across the different areas needed to develop and deliver the venture. To me, that demonstrates an important entrepreneurial skill: understanding your own strengths, recognizing the expertise you need around you, and bringing those different capabilities together to pursue an opportunity.
References
Environmental Defense Fund. (2023, May 17). Learn how to build your climate experience with Terra.do founder Anshuman Bapna. https://www.edf.org/degrees/learn-how-build-your-climate-experience-terra-do-founder-anshuman-bapna
Terra.do. (n.d.). About us: Climate learning, community & careers. https://www.terra.do/about/
Terra.do. (n.d.). Answering your LFA questions. https://www.terra.do/blog/answering-your-lfa-questions/
Terra.do. (n.d.). Learn the skills and find the community you need to work on climate. https://www.terra.do/about-us/organisation/
Terra.do. (n.d.). What’s a typical week like in our Learning for Action course? https://www.terra.do/blog/whats-a-typical-week-like-in-our-learning-for-action-course/
Unreasonable Group. (n.d.). Anshuman Bapna. https://unreasonablegroup.com/people/anshuman-bapna
