Helen Elizabeth Issar

Helen Issar is the Founder and Director of Papagoya, a play-forward learning organisation in Bengaluru, India, spanning ages 1–13. Founded ten years ago in the early years space, Papagoya has grown to include a full-day kindergarten for children aged 1–6, grounded in the Norwegian Framework Plan, and a micro school using Pedagogy of Play — a framework developed through the LEGO Foundation and Harvard Project Zero, where Helen completed the Project Zero Classroom program. Over the past decade Helen has built one of India's most distinctive progressive learning spaces, working against a cultural and regulatory landscape that consistently prioritises academic acceleration over child-led play. Through Playbook, Papagoya's annual conference, she is advancing a systemic goal of establishing a minimum of 20% dedicated play in early childhood centres across India. Helen was featured in the UN Women publication Hum: When Women Lead. She is based in Bengaluru, India.