India CSR News Network
BANGALORE: Bangalore-based non-profit The/Nudge Foundation said that it’s flagship initiative Gurukul, has completed a year of operations with good results.
Today, The/Nudge graduated 67 women from their Sapient Gurukul with placement in two livelihoods: Beauty Services and Data Entry. Students were placed at companies like InMobi, SBI, Bodycraft, Bajaj Finance, Calibehr and many others across Bangalore.
This will be the first job for more some of these women, who all come from extremely tough circumstances. At the event, The/Nudge also announced their plan to grow to 3000 more annual student runrate by March 2017.
Many of the graduates had never stepped out of their homes to work and had also faced tremendous gender inequality. Said Nandini, a 20 year old student, “I had to stop studying to take care of my school-going daughter and my family. I was afraid to talk to people or even get out of my house. After I joined the Gurukul, I decided that I am going to be independent no matter what. I want to educate my daughter so she has to never go through what I went through. At the Gurukul, I realized what my potential is and how I can make changes in life with hardwork and determination. I want to create a better future for my family.”
Gurukul program proves to be a highly effective intervention for youth poverty alleviation. With today’s graduation, The/Nudge has already paved the future for about 300 students and have another 190 students currently studying at various Gurukuls. The organization boasts of partnerships with 100+ corporates and nonprofits within the one year of operation, gearing up for their goal of nudging 1 million people out of poverty.
The ceremony was attended by MN Reddi (DG of Police & Chief of Fire & Emergency Services, Home Guards, Civil Defence and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Karnataka), Malathi Holla (Para-athlete, Arjuna Award winner, Padma Shri), Arun Seth (Ex-Chairman of British Telecom, Alcatel-Lucent, Board member of Narayana Health, Jubilant, HelpAge, NASSCOM Foundation), Maneesh Dhir (ex-MD of Apple India), Amit Gupta (Co-Founder, InMobi), Jogin Desai (Chairman, SVP), among many others.
During the ceremony, Atul Satija, CEO, The/Nudge said, “We started by understanding what is happening with the youth and realized that there is a national obsession with skilling.
However, if you don’t build a foundation that is deep, you can’t build a career or life. You can’t do this in a 9-5 setting; you need an environment where you can recondition. We designed this environment and called it Gurukul. I am proud to say that we have one of the best youth education products in India. This journey is just a start. By 2017 end, we are aiming to have atleast 15 Gurukuls with 5000 student run rate per year.”
Arun Seth, who is on the board of The/Nudge, commented: “It’s very commendable for such a young organization to get to the root of the problem so quickly and solve for it. Their deeper intervention for youth poverty alleviation has shown excellent results, as we have witnessed today. We need this type of model in every college, what The/Nudge is trying to do needs to be replicated across our colleges. I see The/Nudge growing very fast and it is very exciting to see the impact.”
Delivering the keynote on the occasion, MN Reddi said, “I think I haven’t had a more meaningful 30minutes in the past 2 years. I am very touched and very pleased. Touched because I have seen how people live across the country and region. Pleased because there is a ray of hope. I am impressed by Atul’s commitment to create many jobs in India. When I heard Atul saying he wanted to achieve employability for million, I believe he could do that. I know you are on the right path Atul and I wish you all the best.“
To the students, he said: “Life is not going to be easy, but you have crossed the first milestone. Going forward you must not just stand by what you will gain economically; you must stand for what you will give back to India.”
Special guest at the Ceremony, Malathi Holla, narrated her story to the students and said: “Till today, till this moment, I don’t know the meaning of inferiority complex. Life is so beautiful; it has so much to give us. No grumblings, no complexes, only then we can put our step forward”. She said to the new graduates: “This is the journey of life, you have to give back to society. We have only one life. Our images and our attitudes are like a mirror that reflects. You have to nurture punctuality, discipline, dedication and devotion to be successful in life.”
The Gurukul alumni who were present at the function reiterated Nandini’s point of view. Muskeera Banu, a graduate from the very first Batch of Gurukul, said: “Gurukul taught me how to communicate with people. I used to not be confident at all while talking to people. Thank you to the Gurukul for changing my life. ”
The/Nudge Foundation, a non-profit startup, is a collective initiative of some of India’s brightest entrepreneurs, leaders and change-makers coming together to tackle the greatest human development challenge of our times – poverty. The goal of the foundation is to bring 1 million people out of poverty. The Gurukul, flagship initiative of The/Nudge, focuses on sustainable poverty alleviation by building a strong 360-degree life, learning and economic foundation for poor in residential “Gurukuls”, along with lifelong support system.
The/Nudge foundation is supported by Nandan Nilekani and Tata Trusts and boasts of an illustrious advisory board including Dr. Devi Shetty (Chairman and Founder, Narayana Health); Manish Sabharwal (Chairman, Teamlease); Kiran Karnik (ex-President of NASSCOM); Arun Seth, (Ex-Chairman British Telecom & Alcatel Lucent); Hugo Barra, (VP, Xiaomi); Dr. Pramath Sinha, (Founding Dean, ISB); Naveen Tewari, (Founder & CEO InMobi) Vijay Shekhar Sharma, (Founder Paytm), Manish Dugar (CFO, InMobi) and Neeraj Arora, (VP, WhatsApp Messenger).
Readers can visit www.thenudge.org for more information
(As received from The/Nudge Foundation and IndiaCSR.in verified with Organization’s official and edited.)
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