Sonam
Sengar
Founding Partner, Extended Pack Collective
Advisor - Human Centred Design & Strategy (Volunteer)
A product designer who has volunteered with Earth5R since 2016. Sonam Sengar began as a grassroots volunteer in Pune, led cleanups of the Mula-Mutha river, advised on the user experience of the Google-awarded Earth5R app, helped lay the grassroots foundation for Earth5R's A.C.T. project, and today advises Earth5R on human centred design and strategy as a volunteer.
Sonam Sengar is a product designer. She is Lead Product Designer at Wolffkraft® and a Founding Partner of Extended Pack Collective.
She has been part of Earth5R since 2016, beginning as a grassroots volunteer in Pune and growing into the role of Project Coordinator. Her volunteer work spans river cleanups, citizen-led circular economy trainings, and sustainable design-thinking programmes that connect creativity with practical solutions for communities.
As part of Earth5R's Pune team, she took environmental education directly into slums and construction-site settlements, teaching residents about the health effects of burning plastic and wood, waste segregation, and financial literacy and social entrepreneurship as routes to livelihood.
Today, as Earth5R's Advisor for Human Centred Design and Strategy (Volunteer), she works as a strategist and thinker alongside the Earth5R team, advising on design, proposals, and strategy and leading sustainable design thinking programmes, all in a volunteer capacity.
Helping Shape Earth5R's Most Visible Touchpoints
The Google-Awarded Earth5R App
As a volunteer, Sonam advised on the user experience and UI of the Earth5R app, working collaboratively with the team as a strategist and thinker to keep the app centred on the citizens who use it. The app was later recognised by Google.
The Iconic UNESCO Green Citizen T-shirt
As a volunteer, she collaborated with the team in the design process of Earth5R's iconic UNESCO Green Citizen T-shirt, which is now made from recycled plastic fibre.
Proposals, Design, and Strategy
As a volunteer, she has consistently advised on strategy for Earth5R proposals and contributed a strategist's perspective across many types of design work, helping shape how Earth5R presents its programmes to partners.
Sustainable Design Thinking
As a volunteer, she has participated in and led a range of sustainable design thinking programmes and workshops with Earth5R, connecting creativity with practical solutions for communities.
Human Centred Design, Applied to Environmental Action
Since 2016, Sonam Sengar has volunteered with Earth5R, first in Pune as a grassroots volunteer, then as Project Coordinator and volunteer team leader, and today as Advisor for Human Centred Design and Strategy, advising the team on design, user experience, and strategy.
From Pune Neighbourhoods to the Paris Peace Forum
Earth5R's A.C.T. project grew out of grassroots work with citizens in Pune. Sonam Sengar, then a Project Coordinator, worked alongside Madhavi Ninganur, Shriyam Jalan, and Saurabh Gupta in local neighbourhoods and slum communities, building the foundation of making citizens the pillars of power in environmental change.
By educating citizens on sustainable practices and making them key stakeholders in their own neighbourhoods, the team turned that foundation into a working citizen-led model, which later grew into ACT Powai in Mumbai.
In 2018, A.C.T. was selected for the first Paris Peace Forum from over 840 applications, as the only initiative with citizen participation from conceptualisation to implementation.
Reclaiming the Mula-Mutha, One Riverbank at a Time
Mula-Mutha Riverbanks
With Shriyam Jalan, Madhavi Ninganur, and Saurabh Gupta, cleaned the plastic-strewn banks of the Mula-Mutha at Deccan, Pune, filling several large garbage bags in a two-hour drive before the waste could form a layer on the river.
Turning Cleanups into Awareness
After finding snack packets and cigarette butts in abundance, the team launched a street campaign, with Sonam talking to passers-by about how small lifestyle changes can stop plastic pollution at source.
Employees on the Riverbank
Led cleanups and trainings for corporate professionals, including Hexaware Technologies employees on World Coastal Cleanup Day 2016, bridging ESG commitments with measurable on-ground impact.
Environmental Education Where It Matters Most
Sutardara Awareness Programme
In a suburb home to nearly 4,000 families with no waste segregation system, educated residents on segregation, the dangers of burning garbage, and the health risks of asbestos roofs, and suggested creative ways to turn waste into products of economic value.
Environmental Awareness Workshop
Spoke to residents of 30 to 40 homes about the health effects of burning wood and plastic and of hot food packed in plastic, trained them in financial literacy, and introduced Earth5R's Social Entrepreneurship programme for livelihood through sustainable products.
Environmental Education for Women
Educated women living near sites of frequent garbage burning about its health effects and trained them in financial literacy. One resident noted that no one had ever told them about these issues before.
Recycling Office Waste Through Art
Held an art competition for around 50 slum children, and gave an Earth Talk on pollution, waste segregation, composting, rainwater harvesting, and solar energy.
Coffee Art Workshop
Taught school children to make paintings using coffee waste, turning discarded material into creative learning.
Design, Strategy & Operations
Advises the team on design, user experience, and strategy; has supported project management and intern coordination; and leads sustainable design thinking programmes, all as a volunteer.
Sonam Sengar on River Cleaning Programmes
River Cleanup and Awareness at Pune
Sonam Sengar leading a Mula-Mutha river cleanup and awareness training for corporate professionals in Pune. (Earth5R)
Watch on YouTube ↗
World Coastal Cleanup Day 2016: River Cleanup with Hexaware
Sonam Sengar and Hexaware Technologies employees cleaning the Mula-Mutha river in Pune on World Coastal Cleanup Day. (Earth5R)
Watch on YouTube ↗
Mula-Mutha River Cleanup at Pune
Sonam Sengar and the Earth5R volunteer team cleaning the Mula-Mutha riverbanks in Pune. (Earth5R)
Watch on YouTube ↗Sonam Sengar's Work on the Ground
Earth5R at the Paris Peace Forum
How grassroots work in Pune by Sonam Sengar and the team laid the foundation for the A.C.T. project.
Read on Earth5R ↗Mula Mutha River Cleanup and Awareness
The cleanup and street campaign on plastic and cigarette-butt pollution.
Read on Earth5R ↗India River Pollution: Crisis and Restoration
Earth5R's report on river restoration, featuring Sonam Sengar's corporate training and TV interview.
Read on Earth5R ↗Awareness Program to Create a Sustainable Future
The Sutardara programme on waste segregation and health.
Read on Earth5R ↗Environmental Awareness Workshop at Pune
Health, financial literacy, and social entrepreneurship at Warje Road.
Read on Earth5R ↗Recycling Office Waste Through Art
The Hadapsar art competition and Earth Talk for children.
Read on Earth5R ↗Advisor - Human Centred Design & Strategy (Volunteer)
Sonam Sengar has been a volunteer with Earth5R since 2016. Having worked on riverbanks, in slum communities, and with corporate teams, she brings a designer's eye and a ground-level understanding of the people Earth5R serves to its app, programmes, and strategy.
Her contributions to Earth5R's citizen-centric and human-focused processes have strengthened its business model and its ability to scale impact.
About Sonam Sengar
Who is Sonam Sengar?
Sonam Sengar is a product designer. She is Lead Product Designer at Wolffkraft® and a Founding Partner of Extended Pack Collective. She has also been a volunteer with Earth5R since 2016, where she is Advisor for Human Centred Design and Strategy.
How has Sonam Sengar contributed to design at Earth5R?
As a volunteer, she advised on the user experience and UI of the Google-awarded Earth5R app, working collaboratively with the team as a strategist and thinker. She also collaborated on the design process of Earth5R's iconic UNESCO Green Citizen T-shirt, now made from recycled plastic fibre, and has consistently advised on strategy for Earth5R proposals.
What is Sonam Sengar's role at Earth5R?
She is Earth5R's Advisor for Human Centred Design and Strategy, a volunteer role. Working alongside the Earth5R team as a strategist and thinker, she advises on design, proposals, and strategy, and has participated in and led sustainable design thinking programmes and workshops.
How did Sonam Sengar start with Earth5R?
She joined Earth5R in 2016 as a grassroots volunteer in Pune and grew into the role of Project Coordinator and volunteer team leader, leading river cleanups, community programmes, and citizen trainings.
How is Sonam Sengar connected to Earth5R's A.C.T. project?
Working at the grassroots level with citizens in Pune, Sonam and fellow team members Madhavi Ninganur, Shriyam Jalan, and Saurabh Gupta built the foundation of making citizens the pillars of power in environmental change. That citizen-led model became the A.C.T. project, which was selected for the first Paris Peace Forum in 2018.
What river cleaning programmes has Sonam Sengar led?
As a volunteer, she has led and taken part in Earth5R's Mula-Mutha river cleanups in Pune, including a World Coastal Cleanup Day 2016 cleanup with Hexaware Technologies employees and street campaigns on plastic pollution. She has trained corporate employees on waste management and river cleanup, and was featured on national television discussing Earth5R's community-driven river cleaning model.
What community work has Sonam Sengar done in Pune?
As a volunteer, she has run environmental awareness, financial literacy, and social entrepreneurship sessions in Warje, Sutardara, Karve Nagar, and Hadapsar, covering the health effects of burning plastic and wood, waste segregation, and livelihood through sustainable products, along with art and coffee-art workshops for children.
