# Rupa Chandra Gupta

> Rupa Chandra Gupta is the co-founder and CEO of Sown To Grow. After nearly a decade at Bain & Company and The Bridgespan Group, she worked on school redesign in San Jose Unified School District. She and colleague Dennis Li co-founded Sown To Grow in 2015 to help students set goals, track progress, and reflect on learning strategies. Her published essays question whether dashboards and personalized playlists give students meaningful ownership of their learning.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Sown To Grow
- **Organizations:** Sown To Grow, San Jose Unified School District, Bain & Company, The Bridgespan Group, Oakland Public Education Fund
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, University of California, Berkeley, MBA, Stanford University, Master’s in educational leadership (as described in her Edutopia biography), The Broad Residency
- **Known for:** Co-founded Sown To Grow in 2015., Named project director for a $200,000 IES Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project in 2021., Published education essays on student ownership, reflection, growth mindset, and classroom technology.

## Career timeline

- **Before working in schools** — Spent nearly 10 years in management and nonprofit consulting at Bain & Company and The Bridgespan Group.
- **Before full-time startup work** — Worked in San Jose Unified School District, including school redesign at Burnett Middle School.
- **2015** — Co-founded Sown To Grow with district colleague Dennis Li.
- **2016** — Published an essay arguing that growth mindset requires concrete learning strategies and practice.
- **2017** — Published critiques of personalized playlists and automated student dashboards.
- **2018** — Discussed evaluating classroom technology on episode 99 of the Cult of Pedagogy podcast.
- **2021** — Named project director of a $200,000 IES Phase I development award.
- **2026** — Co-hosted a January 22 attendance research webinar with Don Parker.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Sown To Grow in 2015.
- Named project director for a $200,000 IES Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project in 2021.
- Published education essays on student ownership, reflection, growth mindset, and classroom technology.
- Listed as a board member in Oakland Public Education Fund’s fiscal 2023 public disclosure.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Co-hosted a January 22 webinar on attendance research and student belonging with Don Parker; company recap published January 29.
- **2025-06** — A June 9 company retrospective described classroom co-design, a 30-person team, and school visits by all team members at least annually.

## Links

- Website: https://www.sowntogrow.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rupac
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rupa_c_g

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/rupa-chandra-gupta
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-15