Gayatri Mathur – A Transformative Career Change: From Physical Therapist to Humanitarian

Gordon Thane

“Healthcare affects us in so many ways and finance is an integral part of how we receive healthcare.”— Gayatri Mathur, Soondra Foundation CEO & Founder

Introduction

The Public Health Insight team recently talked with Gayatri Mathur, the founder of the Soondra Foundation. She shared the story of how her career has transformed and the inspiration behind starting the Soondra Foundation. Her career began in physical therapy and now encompasses humanitarian work. This article will cover:

Health Inequities in India
Gayatri’s career journey
Getting to know Gayatri

Health Inequities in India

India has a multi-payer universal healthcare model funded by both private and public funds. Low government spending on health creates health inequities for India’s population (Chintamaneni et al., 2023). Urban areas tend to have more funding and resources, even attracting medical tourism. By contrast, infrastructure and accessibility is low in more remote/rural areas leading to health inequities (Chintamaneni et al., 2023). The unequal resource allocation leads to financial hardship and increased out‑of‑pocket expenditures for many (Balarajan et al., 2011).

Medical Emergencies, Financial Catastrophes, & India’s Hope – Part 1

From Physical Therapy to Humanitarian: A Transformative Career Change ft. Gayatri Mathur, CEO & Founder of the Soondra Foundation

Gayatri’s Journey

Gayatri started her career treating patients hands‑on as a physical therapist. She excelled as a clinician and later expanded her role to conducting research and teaching as a professor. Although her role had been fulfilling for 30 years, she felt something was missing and wanted to contribute in a way that had a larger impact and positively affected public health outcomes.

The inspiration for Soondra came when Soondra, who was living and working for Gayatri’s family, experienced an emergency: her toddler fell and fractured his skull. Soondra had to turn to friends and family for help because proper care was prohibitively expensive. This sparked Gayatri’s mission—to provide India’s working poor with access to emergency healthcare. The Soondra Foundation was born in 2018. The foundation collaborates with local experts and non‑profits to send funds and provide care. Local partners then provide medical and financial updates to keep the process transparent and effective.

A Message From Gayatri Mathur

Getting to Know Gayatri

Big dogs or little dogs? She loves big dogs and walking her Labrador retriever even in the cold Chicago winters. Her favorite food? She loves Thai food, but Indian seafood is her favorite. Since she’s from Mumbai, she would travel miles for it. Worst piece of advice? “Keep quiet and say nothing,” because that’s the opposite of how she believes change is made.

People have to voice their feelings and be prepared to act. Something that keeps you inspired professionally? Meeting people and seeing the impact of her work, whether one‑on‑one interactions with patients or through her nonprofit. Memorable TV show or book? She’s been watching Slow Horses and reading the books. She finds it interesting because insiders are often more of a threat than outsiders, and she appreciates the wry sense of humor.

How she stays up to date with public health? She reads extensively and listens to podcasts such as Public Health Insight. If you could make one change in public/global health, what would it be? Change the concept of wellness—encouraging people to define what wellness means for themselves, their communities, and their environments, and to practice it.

References

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Written by: Joya Banerjee