We're not just building
safe workplaces.We're not just building safe workplaces.
We're rewriting the equation.
At SpaceUpp, we are a people-first, justice-driven consultancy led by women and queer professionals with lived experience of navigating inequity—and challenging it.
We partner with organizations ready to build cultures rooted in safety, equity, and truth. And we walk alongside individuals—especially women, queer, and caste-marginalized communities—who are ready to reclaim space, rewrite their narratives, and lead from the margins.
This is where compliance meets courage. And where liberation begins—person by person, policy by policy, culture by culture.
Who We Are
Equipping Individuals. Empowering Workplaces. Reclaiming Power For Every Identity.
SpaceUpp is a gender equity and advisory collective led by feminist, queer, and first-generation professionals who know what it means to navigate exclusion—and challenge it. Founded by Dr. Deepa, a health and gender equity expert, SpaceUpp is more than a consultancy—it's a movement.
We recognize that real change requires more than just policy—it requires a fundamental shift in culture, where everyone is given the opportunity to be heard, respected, and lead with confidence.
Our approach is driven by data, research, and human-centered strategies that help organizations build inclusive cultures rooted in psychological safety and equity. We partner with businesses to develop PoSH compliance, DEI frameworks, and inclusive policies that move beyond compliance to create long-lasting, impactful transformation.
At the same time, we walk alongside individuals sparking the unlearning of systemic conditioning, and supporting them to step into leadership, and rise without apology. Through transformative programs, coaching, and community-building, we provide the tools and support needed for personal growth and leadership.
True to its name, SpaceUpp is about expanding space or spacing up for truth, voice, and leadership. More than a consultancy, it's a movement to dismantle barriers and make leadership accessible to all.
Our Belief
At SpaceUpp, we believe real change begins when we confront the systems that were never built for us. Especially for women, queer individuals, and those pushed to the margins of caste, inclusion is not the goal—liberation is.
1. Liberation Over Empowerment
We don't believe power is something to be given. Women, queer, and caste-oppressed people already have power—what they need are systems that stop blocking it from showing up.
Empowerment doesn't mean giving power. It means getting out of the way.
2. Equity Over Equality
We design systems that don't treat everyone the same—we first listen to what people need, then create pathways for them to step into their power and lead.
Real equity meets people where they are—and walks with them from there.
3. Prevention Over Reaction
We believe safety must be proactive and intentional. We focus on building cultures where red flags are addressed before they escalate, and where prevention is understood as protection—not punishment.
The real work begins before the harm. Prevention isn't a step—it's a stance.
4. Decolonization of Mindsets
Colonial mindsets continue to dominate both personal and professional spaces, often marginalizing those who don't fit a certain mold. At SpaceUpp, we're committed to shifting perspectives, challenging these ingrained norms, and decolonizing the systems that perpetuate inequality.
True growth begins when we shift how we think about power, leadership, and success.
The Founding Story: Dr. Deepa's Journey
From Personal Struggle to Transformational Change
A Journey of Resilience, Research, and Revolution
Dr. Deepa Rajagopal didn't arrive in this work by accident. It was a future she chose to build.
Born into a world where silence was rewarded and conformity demanded, Deepa learned early what it meant to navigate systems never built for her. As a first-generation female graduate and professional, moving through caste, gender, and class-based expectations, she carried the invisible weight that so many high-functioning women do—until she chose not to carry it alone.
Brick by brick, she broke barriers and reclaimed her autonomy—becoming the first woman in her family to claim financial independence, bodily sovereignty, and the power of choice.
With a foundation in medicine and scientific research, Deepa's early career focused on physiology and data interpretation—but the deeper signals were impossible to ignore: social wounds, systemic violence, and everyday erasure that couldn't be tracked in numbers, yet lived in bodies all the same.
Her shift into gender justice and DEI wasn't a pivot. It was a return—to purpose, to truth, and to the communities she belonged to. What pulled her in wasn't theory, it was life: watching brilliant women shrink to survive, watching queer folks hide to be safe, and feeling the loneliness of being the "first" in rooms designed by and for others.
Along the way, she honed her craft on global stages, grounded her intent in grassroots struggles, and anchored her vision through advanced study at Cornell University, U.S.—a foundation in leading change for equitable workplaces and community-driven inclusion. These journeys sharpened her lens: uniting rigor with lived truth, strategy with humanity, and systems with stories that refuse to be silenced.
Over 14 years, Dr. Deepa has woven her medical insight, research precision, advanced studies in equitable and next-generation leadership, and her lived understanding of systemic harm into a singular offering: SpaceUpp—a people-first, justice-led collective that refuses to fix people and instead transforms the systems that keep them small.
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Meet the Team
Meet the Ones Who Refuse to Work Around Broken Systems—So They Rebuild Them.
At SpaceUpp, our team is not only skilled—we're lived-experience-led. We've navigated exclusion, challenged norms, and turned discomfort into design. Each of us brings more than credentials and shows up with more than experience—we carry clarity, conviction, and an unshakable drive to make equity real, not performative.
Dr. Deepa Rajagopal
Role: Founder, Head of Product & Research
The visionary architect behind our frameworks, bringing 14+ years of hands-on leadership in gender justice and intersectional DEI..
Muthal Venkatachalam
Role: Co-founder | Lead – PoSH & Compliance Strategy
A co-founder who leads from the field, Muthal brings 5+ years of frontline experience in gender justice and HR advisory.
Komahal Porchelvi G
Role: Director | Communication & Brand Strategy
More than a communication strategist, Komahal is the narrative pulse of SpaceUpp.
Why SpaceUpp is Different
For organizations, we are not vendors—we are co-conspirators in building cultures where safety, equity, and profitability fuel one another.
For individuals, we are not motivators—we are companions in reclaiming voice, authority, and space that was always yours.
Here's how we stand apart:
The Dual-Engine Approach: Prevention Meets Compliance
SpaceUpp is one of the very few partners in India leading with a prevention-first PoSH model. We build systems that catch red flags early—giving workplaces the chance to act before respect is lost, for both the employee and the organization.
Prevention is our bold differentiator.
Tailored. Contextual. Never Copy-Paste.
Every organization and every individual is different—so are its challenges. At SpaceUpp, every solution is built from scratch—based on your people, your problems, and your pace. Because what worked elsewhere won't shift the system you're in.
What we design for you, works for you.
Research-Led. Trauma-Informed. Always Human.
Our work blends data with psychosocial insight. We create strategies that are both evidence-based and emotionally intelligent—centered on safety, liberation, and measurable, scalable change.
Safety is where talent transforms into power.
We Lead With Lived Truth.
We turn everyday struggles into blueprints for equity—so solutions are not imagined, but experienced. Our frameworks come from life itself: grounded in research, shaped by experience, and built to dismantle the barriers people actually face.
Lived experiences of silenced voices are the evidence we trust.
Empathy-Led. Community-Centered. Always With You.
We don't show up for one workshop and disappear. At SpaceUpp, we lead with empathy, center YOUR lived realities, and walk beside you—not ahead of you. Our work grows from your experience with us, and we stay—through retainers, mentoring, and ongoing guidance that keeps evolving.
Commitment until measurable impact is our practice.
Echoes of Impact
At SpaceUpp, we believe in documenting every story ever told—especially the ones that were never given space. We make room for 'herstory' too—the stories often erased, silenced, or simplified.
Every moment captured here reflects real voices, bold truths, and collective shifts in action. From PoSH training to personal power workshops, from quiet reflection circles to loud breakthroughs—these aren't just events; they're lived experiences in motion.
It's an archive of imperfectly perfect narratives of presence—holding the joy, pain, resistance, and resilience of those daring to lead from the margins.
Learning in Action
Training that transforms workplaces — participants engaging in PoSH and DEI sessions.
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The Power of We
Circles of strength — SHE program & Sisterhood collective beneficiaries forming authentic connection.
Shaping Leaders, Shaping Futures
Leading from within — leadership workshops that harness self-power to rise with confidence and clarity.
Moments of Triumph
Connecting with roots — celebrating the brilliance of giving back through our workforce-ready and train-the-trainer programs.
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Let's Build Power—Together.
Whether you are an individual navigating power dynamics or an organization ready to transform - we're here to walk with you.
✨ Because when one woman rises, systems shift.