Focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, the Mittal Institute’s annual Seed for Change (SFC) competition awards funding to bold, creative ideas developed by Harvard students with the potential to drive meaningful impact in India. Meet this year’s grand prize winner, The Paal, and runner-up, Games for Ed.
2025 Seed for Change Winner ($30,000)
The Paal
Manali Jain, Master’s in Public Policy ’25, Harvard Kennedy School
Manali Jain, a student at HKS, and her team partner Shivam Johri are the visionaries behind The Paal. The Paal is a platform that is turning livestock into an investable asset class to improve livelihoods for smallholder women farmers.
“Out of 100 million farmers in India, two-thirds rely on livestock for their livelihood—most of them small and marginal farmers with limited access to land. Of these, 70% are women,” write Jain and Johri. These farmers face a range of challenges, including financial constraints, limited access to livestock management resources, and gender-based barriers that hinder their ability to sustain or grow their businesses.
The Paal aims to transform livestock ownership through an innovative model that de-risks the process for farmers by channeling retail investments and tapping into the momentum of India’s growing economy. The model is designed to improve the incomes of smallholder women farmers, often excluded from India’s growth story, by equipping them with the tools and support they need to thrive.
Images, clockwise from left: HKS student Manali Jain; one of the lifestock; a newborn calf, part of The Paal herd.
“We aim to unlock capital to fuel growth in India’s rural markets and we want to do in a way that takes a holistic farm level shift where cow does not just become a livelihood opportunity but an important asset class, which changes the livelihoods of those who manage it day and night.”
Shivam and Manali first connected during their undergraduate studies at Shri Ram College of Commerce. They decided to work together on this idea last year after witnessing these challenges on the ground while visiting their village. Since then, they have engaged with multiple stakeholders to deepen their understanding and refine the problem.
“I know the idea we’re building has a lot of economic potential at every level for stakeholders in the value chain,” Jain and Johri say. “Even if we reach 1 percent of India’s 100 million farmers, the impact will be massive.”
2025 Seed for Change Runner-Up ($5,000)
Games for Ed
Mridula Chalamalasetti, Master’s in Education ’25, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Games For Ed—created by HGSE student Mridula Chalamalasetti and co-applicants Meha Wadher and Abhijith Giridhar—aims to enhance student engagement through game-based experiential learning. The program develops custom curriculum-aligned games and thematic mega-games, focusing on diverse topics like sustainability and global trade. By partnering with schools, it supports teachers with training and resources, ensuring accessibility for low-income institutions through a revenue-sharing model. With this approach, Games For Ed seeks to integrate playful learning into mainstream education.
The Seed for Change competition is made possible by a generous grant from KP Balaraj MBA ’97 and Sumir Chadha MBA ‘97.
☆ The views represented herein are those of the interview subjects and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mittal Institute, its staff, or its Steering Committee.