Page 8 - Neerja Birla

HISTORY

milestones

n 1989, 18-year-old Neerja wed Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, son of the
I late Aditya Birla and grandson of the legendary G.D. Birla (1894-1983) who founded the Birla business
empire in the 1920s. After the birth of their three children, in 2010 she signed up for an undergrad psy-
chology degree programme at the University of Derby, UK from where she graduated in 2013.

Meanwhile in 2008 under the aegis of the Aditya Birla Education Trust, Neerja conceptualised and
founded the Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA), a K-12 school affiliated with Cambridge Internation-
al and IB exam boards. Six years later in 2014 with ABWA firmly established as one of Mumbai’s most
preferred international day schools, ABET promoted The Aditya Birla Integrated School (TABIS). “I’ve
always believed that high-quality education is the best gift we confer upon children. After the birth of
my three children, this belief was strengthened. Ten years ago with ABWA I realised my dream of build-
ing a school providing internationally benchmarked K-12 education. TABIS was born out of a growing
awareness that children with special needs can be schooled in conducive, enabling environments,
where they have equal opportunity to thrive and grow, so that they can realise their full potential
on their own terms,” recalls Birla, mother of two daughters Ananya (23) and Advaitesha (14) and son
Aryaman (21).

32 | 21 Leaders Transforming Indian Education