The Cocoon Initiative urges leaders in the social sector to rest and reset as it funds their break

Vishal Talreja had dedicated nearly two decades to working with young people growing up in vulnerability before he realised how fatigued he himself was. As the co-founder of Dream a Dream, which equips children with life skills, he had built an institution that spearheaded change. But even the most passionate changemakers are prone to exhaustion.

A 2023 study, by a group of Indian and international academics, involving 73 social workers from two cities in South India, used a cross-sectional quantitative design to assess burnout, perceived social support, and work-life balance. The findings revealed high levels of burnout among participants, highlighting the significant stress faced by social workers. 

Many leaders in the social sector plunge into the causes they believe in with passion and hope. However, not everyone is fully prepared for the overwhelming nature of the work and the toll it can take on one’s mental and emotional health. 

Talreja says he was no exception and admits that he was “clearly depressed.” He underwent episodes of burnout but didn’t quite stop to acknowledge it. 

In 2018, after leading Dream a Dream for 18 years, when his health took a turn for the worse, he stepped away as CEO and took a three-month sabbatical, which ended up sparking a revolutionary idea to create sustainability in the social sector.

For the first two weeks of his break, he did nothing but sleep. “I had all these grand plans,” he tells SocialStory, “but my body was so exhausted, I just slept.”

After his body replenished with rest, Talreja went on long walks, had unhurried conversations with friends, and spent hours sitting in his father’s office, just being present, and lending him a hand. 

But underneath all the quiet, Talreja knew he was confronting a question that many in the social sector hesitated to ask: How do we sustain ourselves while sustaining others?

When Talreja returned to work, he was way more than a leader rejoining his organisation. He was an advocate for something that the social sector had long overlooked—wellbeing of activists and social workers. 

Globally, movements such as Slow Activism (which encourages long-term, thoughtful engagement over urgency and burnout) and the Emergent Strategy Approach (wherein activists work in alignment with nature, embracing fluidity, interdependence, and small, iterative changes), have emerged as an antidote to high-intensity, rapid-response activism.

The making of a movement

When COVID-19 happened, Talreja saw colleagues and peers struggling under the weight of overwhelming and, at times, unprecedented challenges. 

Children were dropping out of school, families were facing impossible hardships, and social workers, who had given their lives to service, found themselves grappling with lack of funds and a sense of saturation. 

“There was a growing pessimism—this feeling that no matter what we do, nothing will change,” says Talreja.

His conversations with leaders in the social sector revealed a deeper crisis: exhaustion and burnout were endemic. Many of them had worked seven-day weeks for years, neglecting their own health, relationships, and joy. Even those who wanted to step back found it impossible—due to financial constraints, organisational dependencies, or an ingrained belief that rest was indulgent.

This became the impetus for Talreja to start The Cocoon Initiative.

Rest is imperative 

Launched in November 2023, The Cocoon Initiative was a call to action: What if social sector leaders were given the space—and the financial support—to take a real break?

“We realised that financial insecurity was the most immediate barrier to sabbaticals,” says Talreja. “So we decided to remove it.” 

Through a $1-million commitment from philanthropist Donald Lobo's Chintu Gudiya Foundation, the initiative began funding sabbaticals of three months to a year, with grants covering living expenses, therapy or travel.

And the response was staggering. The Cocoon Initiative expected 10 to 15 applications in its first year, but it received 56. 

Leaders, some of whom had worked for decades without a proper break, applied for funding with both excitement and trepidation.

Yet, even with financial support, the emotional hurdle of taking time off was immense. 

“One applicant—a grassroots leader from Tamil Nadu—told me he had never taken his family on a holiday in 40 years,” Talreja recalls. “He asked, ‘Can I really use this support for that?’ And I told him, ‘Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do.’”

For many, it wasn’t just about exhaustion; it was about rediscovering joy. 

Some used their sabbatical to rest or recuperate from serious illnesses like cancer. Others reconnected with family members they had drifted away from. 

One participant, a researcher, finally pursued his lifelong dream of travelling through the Western Ghats to study endangered plant species.

Ajay Pandit, Co-founder and Director at Synergy Sansthan, a rural and tribal youth development organisation at Harda, Madhya Pradesh, was born into a family of social activists. His father was a grassroots leader during the Emergency, and Pandit imbibed much of his revolutionary spirit and grew up with his ideals. 

He had spent close to two decades working with rural and tribal youth when, in 2023, a change of leadership within the organisation, and subsequent changes, led him to stop for the first time in years and reflect on where he stood. 

“There were several things that had sapped my energy over the years: young people with potential in villages did not have access to even the basic resources that would make them excellent leaders. This was wearing us down as activists. Secondly, my children were growing up so fast, the years had just flown by,” says Pandit.

So, he took a four-month break with the assistance of The Cocoon Initiative, during which time, he pursued a PG diploma in developmental leadership, which became a source of pride for both him and his community. Pandit also undertook a meditation course that changed his perspective on his work.

“The time away from work helped me reevaluate how we were approaching issues for years. I began travelling across River Narmada, mapping the lives of young people in the region, and building capacities within them to become leaders,” says Pandit. 

“I also became more rooted in my values and resilient to challenges,” he adds.

Anushri Alva, CEO and founding team member of Adhyayan Foundation, had been leading her organisation for eight years when she realised she needed to take a break. 

After navigating the immense challenges of COVID-19—losing key funding, shrinking her team from 18 to four, and then rebuilding it to 40—she had little time to process the emotional and physical toll of these changes. Exhausted, Alva approached The Cocoon Initiative with a pressing need for distance to regain perspective.

Her three-month sabbatical, supported by Cocoon, allowed her to completely disconnect from work and immerse herself in activities that were grounding and restorative. She deliberately chose a period when schools were closed, ensuring minimal disruption to operations. 

Her team implemented a structured transition plan, assigning responsibilities, and pausing non-urgent tasks. Crucially, during these months, her team did not contact her, giving her the space to truly rest.

The time off not only rejuvenated her but also reinforced a key insight—her organisation could function smoothly in her absence, an encouraging realisation as she considered long-term succession planning. 

Since returning, Alva has continued many of the personal practices she rediscovered during the break, such as piano, dance, and writing, while also rethinking work culture at Adhyayan. 

Inspired by her own experience, she has been encouraging her team to prioritise well-being by fostering a more flexible and mindful work environment. She now models a more balanced approach, demonstrating that an unstacked calendar is not a sign of inefficiency but reflects intentional, thoughtful leadership.

The application process

The application process at The Cocoon Initiative is intentionally simple and trust-based. Applicants are required to submit an online form outlining why they need a break, what they hope to do during the sabbatical, how their organisation will function in their absence, and what they aim to achieve from the experience. 

Once the application is submitted, the process moves into a series of conversations rather than a rigid selection framework. These discussions help clarify expectations, explore the real challenges the applicants face, and encourage them to design a sabbatical that truly supports their wellbeing—whether that means rest, travel, reconnecting with family, or pursuing personal passions. 

The initiative provides financial support of up to Rs 10 lakh for a duration of three months to a year, allowing leaders to step away from work without financial stress. 

The only eligibility that Talreja can think of is organisational stability—if a leader’s absence would put their organisation at risk, they are advised to strengthen the internal structures before reapplying.

Shifting the narrative on wellbeing

The Cocoon Initiative was never meant to be just about individual recovery. The larger goal was to bring in systemic change by pushing the sector towards recognising wellbeing as fundamental, and not optional.

While it is easier to offer support to social sector leaders while they take a sabbatical, lending this support to other workers across hierarchies, who also struggle with chronic stress and anxiety, is much harder. That is why it is important to incorporate sabbatical policies within the organisation. 

“The real success is when organisations start embedding sabbatical policies and wellbeing structures into their systems,” says Talreja. 

Many leaders who went through the programme returned with a new perspective—not just on their own work but also on how their organisations operated. Some introduced wellbeing leave, while others pushed for therapy to be covered under health insurance.

On the philanthropic side, Talreja and his partners at The Cocoon Initiative are urging donors to redefine their approach to funding. 

“We tell them—if you’re giving an NGO ₹100, why not add ₹3 specifically for wellbeing?” 

The hope is that funders will begin to see self-care as an investment in impact, rather than as an indulgence.

In a world that glorifies hustle, the idea of doing nothing feels almost radical. But Talreja is clear: “Rest is not a reward for burnout. It is a necessity for doing good work."

(The story has been revised for factual corrections)