Brij Kothari

Co-Founder

India29 yrs 8 mos experience

Highly Stable

Key Highlights

Innovator of Same Language Subtitling for mass literacy.
Founder of impactful literacy organizations.
Adjunct Professor influencing future leaders.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a leader in educational innovation and social entrepreneurship focused on literacy and language learning.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Social EntrepreneurshipEducational Innovation

Other Skills

Same Language SubtitlingMass LiteracyLanguage LearningMedia AccessProject ManagementPartnership DevelopmentInnovation in LiteracyContent ProductionDigital Media

About

Brij Kothari leads the Billion Readers (BIRD) initiative in India. He and his team have innovated, researched, and are implementing Same Language Subtitling (SLS) nationally on entertainment content in India, for mass literacy, language learning, and media access. He is an Adjunct Professor at IIT-Delhi's School of Public Policy, an Ashoka Fellow and a Schwab Social Entrepreneur. He founded PlanetRead.org and BookBox.com as a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University. Brij grew up in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry and went on to get a Masters in Physics at IIT Kanpur, Masters in Development Communication and Ph.D. in Education at Cornell University. His doctoral research was on the conservation of local knowledge in Andean Ecuador. He speaks five languages and is passionate about creating reading opportunities for every child and adult, in his/her language.

Experience

School of public policy, iit delhi

Adjunct Professor

Dec 2023 – Present · 2 yrs 4 mos · New Delhi, Delhi, India

Billion readers (bird) initiative

Lead, Billion Readers (BIRD) Initiative

Dec 2021 – Present · 4 yrs 4 mos · India · Hybrid

Dr. Brij Kothari conceived Same Language Subtitling (SLS) on mainstream TV at IIM Ahmedabad in 1996 to guarantee lifelong reading practice and improvement for a billion viewers. Bill Clinton called SLS, "a small thing that has a staggering impact on people's lives," because of the multiple benefits at nation scale: improved reading, Indian language learning, and media acccess. Brij is currently leading the Billion Readers (BIRD) initiative to scale SLS in all Indian languages, supported by a system change grant from Co-Impact and in partnership with the government, TV networks, streaming platforms, and entertainment content producers. He has a Ph.D. in Education and a Masters in Communication from Cornell University. He also has an M.Sc. in Physics from IIT Kanpur and is the founder of PlanetRead and BookBox, committed to scalable solutions for reading and language learning. He is the recipient of the International Literacy Prize from the US Library of Congress.

Same Language SubtitlingMass LiteracyLanguage LearningMedia AccessProject ManagementPartnership Development+2

Planetread.org and bookbox.com

Founder

Jan 2004 – May 2023 · 19 yrs 4 mos

PlanetRead is a non-profit dedicated to innovation in mass reading and literacy. Its core innovation is Same Language Subtitling (SLS).
BookBox produces children's animated stories for digital and electronic media platforms and print. BookBox's content is powered by SLS and is designed to promote reading and language skills.

Innovation in LiteracyContent ProductionDigital MediaSocial EntrepreneurshipEducational Innovation