- Katalyst India, founded in 2007, empowers underprivileged girls pursuing STEM education through a structured 4-year leadership development program.
- The NGO offers a 600-hour curriculum, mentorship, retreats, online learning, and financial support to create women leaders of tomorrow.
- Backed by leaders like Lenovo’s Amar Babu, the initiative bridges the gender gap in STEM and builds pathways to leadership for young women.
It is believed that educating a girl means educating a nation. Katalyst India, an NGO founded in 2007, was established with this same belief. The organization was born of Third Sector Partners, a company that specializes in leadership recruitment for the social sector. "Having a strong belief in the potential of girl child education, the founders (Shital Mehra, Sunit Mehra and Harkirat Singh) chose to target the education of young women. Although there were a number of organisations already involved in the space of primary education and vocational training, little was being done at the higher education level that decisive end of the value chain where leaders for the future are formed", states Poorvi Shah, CEO, Katalyst India.
Sensing the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, they chose to direct their energies towards filling this vacuum. That pledge brought about the establishment of Katalyst India (KI) in 2007. KI seeks to empower women through establishing parity in opportunities and leadership. To do that, the organization carries out several developmental interventions and works towards establishing an enabling environment where young women can develop their self-confidence and enhance their leadership skills.
"The programs specifically target girls from socio-economically disadvantaged classes who are studying professional education in STEM fields", says Shah, who joined KI in 2015. They work with young women who are just starting their undergraduate degree courses. "Our interaction begins in the first year, where we carry out outreach through colleges and introduce the program through orientation sessions. Those who are interested apply for enrollment and we guide them for four years", she says.
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The program is designed to provide an interesting mix of interventions, such as a 600-hour curriculum over the course of the four years. A mentor is assigned to every student for individual guidance, most of whom stay with them throughout the four-year period. Alongside academic guidance, the program also features exposure visits like outbound team-building exercises, yoga retreats, an annual convention, and a convocation ceremony for final-year students.
This integrated strategy blends different types of intervention and has developed over time to embrace a hybrid model of learning. Learners are engaged through virtual classes via their online platform and are also availed with tailored learning journeys crafted through collaborations with Udemy and IMS Learning Solutions.
"Along with these learning opportunities, participants are also given practical advantages in terms of medical insurance for themselves and their mothers. They are also given laptops at subsidised prices and receive cash payouts", Shah adds.
Amar Babu, Lenovo Asia Pacific President, avers, "Katalyst India has been doing some phenomenal work, and what they're doing is of critical importance. If you see the current scenario, still, there's a visible lack of women joining STEM streams and moving to leadership positions. Their strategic initiative towards developing women in STEM is a positive move, given that companies belonging to these fields are actually looking to recruit more women. The effort they're putting in is worthy of appreciation".
