The friends and family of Anna Sebastian, the 26-year-old chartered accountant who died in July 2024 allegedly due to workplace stress, have launched the Anna Sebastian Initiative with the aim of helping young people navigate corporate life.
Anna died merely four months after she started working at the Pune office of Ernst and Young. Anna’s family had alleged that she died due to the overwhelming work pressure she faced.
In a letter penned a month after Anna’s death, her mother Anita Augustine had urged the company to initiate reform. “It is time to reflect on the work culture within your organisation and take meaningful steps to prioritise the health and wellness of your employees. This means creating an environment where employees feel safe to speak up, where they are supported in managing their workload, and where their mental and physical well-being is not sacrificed for the sake of productivity,” she said.
According to the Times of India, her father Sibi Joseph said that Anna had always wished to give back to society. The family is trying to fulfil this wish of hers, he said.
The Anna Sebastian Initiative can be accessed at www.theannasebastianinitiative.com. The website says, “This is a small personal initiative, created by family and friends who knew Anna, and miss her deeply. We aren’t an organization. We aren’t raising funds. We’re just here to tell a story that matters, and to help make sure fewer stories end this way.”
The website includes a 11-step first year corporate survival guide. It also provides the option “to write to Anna or someone like her”. The page says, “Sometimes the things we couldn’t say in time are the ones that need space the most.”
“Through simple online sessions and shared experiences, we guide students and fresh graduates to build confidence, prepare better, and feel less alone as they begin their journeys,” the initiative says, adding, “Each year, in Anna’s memory, we will conduct a small empowerment or kindness drive to create real change, however small.”