Purvi Padia grew up traveling back and forth between America and India, where she would spend weeks at a time with extended family. And while she claims to have an otherwise shoddy memory, there are a series of images that have stayed burned in her brain: People living in abject poverty and children abandoned and suffering on the streets. She was so affected that her parents considered stopping the visits for a time when she was young. But she insisted on returning and trying to help. “I simply felt like I couldn’t just sit there while there were people right outside my door who were hungry. It was really hard for me, so I did what I could, even when I was little.” Now a mother herself (to Rehan, 10, and Reven, 7), living in NYC and heading up her own thriving interior design firm, Purvi Padia Design, her commitment has only grown. A longtime UNICEF board member, she spearheaded Project Lion, a UNICEF-affiliated program created to protect children living in institutions throughout India and give them a better chance to grow up in loving, stable, and nurturing environments.
