Going To School Fund

Going to School in India is a creative organization that empowers adolescent girls through storytelling, play-based learning, and entrepreneurial education. It places girls at the center of its mission, working to improve their physical and mental health while building resilience and leadership skills. Its primary goal is to equip young women from underserved areas with the tools necessary to overcome social and economic barriers, enabling them to transition from school to equitable work or sustainable enterprise.

Major Interventions:

The Outdoor School for Girls: This program operates within government schools to teach integrated life, digital, and sustainable enterprise skills. The curriculum utilizes quirky girl characters in heroic stories and board games to teach problem-solving for climate change during regular school hours. Students participate in action-research projects outside the classroom, documenting environmental issues like plastic pollution and food waste in tree-free notebooks. They then return to school to perfect their digital skills by entering data and creating infographics on laptops.

Youth Enterprise Fund: It supports women from low-income communities in starting sustainable businesses that solve urban climate issues. This initiative provides experiential business education through outdoor "crash courses" held in street markets and established enterprises. Participants learn financial literacy, market research, and green supply chain management from external experts and industry leaders. High-potential ideas receive funding through events where entrepreneurs pitch their eco-friendly ventures to corporate volunteers.

Scrappy News Service and Play City: These initiatives focus on play and communication as catalysts for community transformation. Through the "Outdoor School for Girls TV" series, teams of girls showcase their innovative spirits by designing games that raise awareness about environmental issues, such as plastic pollution and reforestation. These programs reclaim outdoor spaces for girls to play team sports, fostering confidence and challenging cultural norms that discourage female participation in physical activities.