Meet Gayathri Vanka and Sanjana Kavula | Project Pink Co-Founder, Project Pink Co-Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gayathri Vanka and Sanjana Kavula and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gayathri, Sanjana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Our inspiration for Project Pink was sparked close to home. We came across an alarming statistic while conducting research for a project: 27 million American women struggle with mental health issues. Worse, Dallas was ranked the worst city in the United States for mental health. After volunteering at a local women’s shelter, we realized that these numbers had implications that ran far deeper than we could imagine. We mobilized our passion for healthcare and advocacy to spark Project Pink, a 501(c) organization dedicated to stigmatizing and addressing Women’s Mental Health.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

Our mission is to not only provide resources, but to be a voice for those whose struggles are often overlooked. Through our initiative, Project Pink upholds the pillars of advocacy, accessibility, and awareness, working tirelessly with leaders in healthcare, government, and education to create positive global change. By expanding our reach to nations from Uganda to the United States, we have been able to universally uplift women everywhere. We had to meticulously plan each approach in order to engage diverse audiences, a challenge we took on readily. In June, Project Pink received national recognition for our mental health research and awareness campaign. The organization has also raised $3,000+ for women’s shelters, collaborated with Frisco City Officials to improve local mental health outcomes, interviewed on prominent radio segments, and expanded across the continent. Throughout this journey, we have learned the importance of forging strong connections, taking risks, and lending our voices to the voiceless. Project Pink has taken major strides towards improving women’s mental health outcomes, and looks forward to furthering our efforts. We are excited to expand our reach, and provide wider access to mental health care resources.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Monday Hit the Dallas aquarium
View the extensive collections at the Dallas Art Museum
Dine at paradiso
Tuesday
Visit deep ellum
Stroll through the district, look at the abundant art
Try a trendy chich restaurant
End the night with a concert at The Factory
Wednesday
Shop at legacy west
Explore the diverse cuisine at legacy hall
Watch a live show at The Lexus Box Garden
Thursday
Visit the Perot Museum
Have a picnic and watch the Sunset at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden
Friday
Visit historic downtown mckinney
Shop for vinyls at Red Zeppelin Records
Grab coffee at Habitat
Watch the sunset
Saturday
Walk through downtown frisco – visit the heritage museum, Frisco Public Library, farmers market, and pick up coffee at summer moon
Dine at one of the many charming downtown restaurants

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to dedicate our shoutout to Susan Holt at Carter Blood Care! She has supported us every step of the way, and we would not have made it this far without all her help.

Website: projectpinkfoundation.org

Instagram: @projectpinkfoundation

Linkedin: Project Pink Foundation

Other: email: projectpinktx@gmail.com