[3] She is the chief executive officer of Nari Gunjan ("woman's voice"[4]), a not-for-profit organisation that provides education, literacy, vocational training, healthcare, advocacy and life skills for Dalit girls and women in Bihar.

[5] Varghese has stated that she draws inspiration from B. R. Ambedkar,[6] a Dalit who fought against the concept of untouchability and was one of the drafters of the Constitution of India.

[7] In 1965, she moved to Bihar to work for the poor with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur at their Academy.

[10] She resigned from her job as a teacher in the convent,[11] and in 1986 moved into a complex of mud and brick houses (tola) used by the lowest castes in India, to educate the Musahar.

[18] In her home, she convened a group of teenage girls, to whom she taught reading, writing, sewing, and embroidery.

After Nitish Kumar was elected Chief Minister of Bihar, he asked Varghese if she could replicate the success of her school.

[31] She stated that she would try, and he allocated resources for her to open a school named Prerna 2 at a site in Gaya that she had chosen.

Despite construction and bureaucratic delays, the school eventually opened, and is now partially funded by Mahadalit Mission, a program operated by the Government of Bihar.

In addition to the standard curriculum, Prerna also teaches arts and dance, and hired a karate teacher.