Adeesh Mehra is currently a board member at Pravah overseeing its financial and accounting aspects. His association with Pravah goes back to 1993 where he became one of the co-founders of Pravah. A Chartered Accountant by profession, Adeesh has about 21 years of experience in range of services like accounting, audit, tax audit, tax laws, companies and other allied laws, and management consultancy. Adeesh has handled accounting assignments of various manufacturing, trading, finance and service sector organizations. He has also rendered accounting services to not-for-profit organizations, which follow fund based accounting.
Arjun Shekhar is currently the President and the Chairperson of Pravah. A common thread prevails across all his work i.e. creating ownership for common spaces by empowering people to act in them. With this aim in mind Arjun co-founded Pravah and in 1997 also founded Vyaktitva, a performance support consulting firm that offers organization development and human resource solutions to some of the leading corporate and non- profit organizations in India. He has also co-created with others at Pravah and Vyaktitva the 'Big Ticket' program on Instruction Design & Facilitation skills, The Conflict Positive curriculum and the Active Citizenship curriculum, all being used widely in both profit and non- profit organizations. Arjun did a Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics and PM IR from XLRI, Jamshedpur. A consultant, writer and volunteer at Pravah, he still continues to be a part of it because of the love and affection of people around him.
Ashraf Patel is a co-founder of Pravah and headed the organization for nine years from its beginning till 2002. She is currently the Director, Learning Voyages and is responsible for design and implementation of organization development and youth interventions within Pravah and other partner organizations. Prior to setting up Pravah, Ashraf was heading the HR function at Escorts Finance. She has also worked with SRF Finance as a management trainee, which was also her first stint in corporate. A post graduate in HR from XLRI, she is an Ashoka Fellow and a trustee of the National Youth Foundation. She is also a working group member appointed by the Youth Ministry to make recommendations for the XIth plan.
Durba Ghose is Director Communications at Pravah. A Post Graduate in Comparative Literature, Durba worked with Vikramshila, Kolkata in the field of education for many years. Before joining Pravah in 2000, she was a consultant for Ashoka - Innovators for the Public, CRY- Child Rights and You, and other organizations. Durba was awarded the Commonwealth Professional Fellowship in 2005 to explore an intensive youth volunteering programme at Voluntary Service Overseas (UK), and she facilitated the replication of it by Pravah in an Indian context. Durba is a trained dancer, and besides performing regularly, works with young people to build their skills and appreciation in dance.
Gouran Lal is currently working as a consultant at Pravah. Her association with Pravah goes back to 18 years where she has been one of the founding members. She has resumed her role as a volunteer since August 2008. After completing her graduation in Economics, Gouran has done her post graduation in hotel management, a B Ed and later a Post Graduation in International Law and Human Rights. She has a varied experience in education, as well as media sector.
Ishani Sen - has been engaged in the field of democratic education for the last 15 years. A postgraduate in social sciences, Ishani has worked in the field of experimental education and has experience of working with children and teachers from all sections of society. Having successfully ensured the growth of Pravah’s Teachers Training program, Ishani is currently Director of Pravah’s Teachers Training Intervention.
Kamini Prakash was working as a Director of the research function of Pravah since January 2007. From 2010 she has been heading the research function here. She enjoys her work at Pravah because of its persistent focus on learning and development of youth and society at large. Prior to this she was associated with Care India and Hope Project where she had been working as the Executive Director-involved in development of Basti Hazrat Nizzamuddin community. She has done her Masters in Social Policy and Planning in developing countries from LSE and PhD in German Studies from Michigan State University. Her varied experience in developmental activities and her dedication for youth development has made her a valuable asset for Pravah.
Meenu Venkateswaran is a co founder of Pravah and Director of Streaming. Before her stint as Director of Streaming she was the CEO here from 2005 to 2010. Prior to that she was responsible for leading and mentoring the Teacher Training intervention at Pravah into a very powerful program for schools. She has over 18 years experience in the corporate and development sectors. She has worked as a consultant at development organizations and was the head of the resource generation function at CRY, Child Relief and You. She has done Masters in Economics and has completed her post graduation in management from IIM, Bangalore.
Neha Buch, a post graduate in History from St. Stephen’s College, has volunteered extensively. Her journey with Pravah started as a SMILE volunteer and she has been working with Pravah since 2003. During this time she has managed the Global Xchange program, supported the start-up of the Pravah-Jaipur Initiative and offered leadership to Pravah’s SMILE program. Neha is a founding member of Kutumb Foundation, an organization committed to the holistic development of community
children around Delhi’s Khan Market.
Renuka Motihar an independent consultant based in New Delhi is also currently a board member of Pravah. With a postgraduate degree in social
sciences from Lady Irwin College, Delhi University, Renuka has 19 years of experience in the social development sector. She has worked on issues related to women, youth and children especially on reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and broader social issues. Her focus has been on program management; program design and planning; situational assessments; NGO appraisals; reviews and evaluations; research and documentation. Renuka has worked as a program consultant with various international and national agencies - including UN agencies, private foundations, international NGOs- in India and Asia.
Rahul Roy- is a film maker by profession and currently a board member at Pravah. Rahul Roy did an M.A. in film and television production at the Mass Communication Research Center, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, and has worked as a documentary film-maker since graduation. His films, "Dharmayuddha", "Nasoor", "Invisible Hands Unheard Voices", "Khel", "When Four Friends Meet", "The Performance" and "The City Beautiful" focus on issues related to communalism, gender and marginalization. He has done a series of documentaries on the theme of masculinities under a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, South Asia on this theme.
Ravi Gulati - founder of Manzil, has been involved for over the last 10 years in building a nurturing community of young people who come from the lower middle class background in the Khan Market area of New Delhi. He has a post graduate diploma in management from IIM, Ahmedabad, who returned to pursue a hands- on course in Environment Education from CEE, Ahmedabad after spending a year in the corporate sector in Canada. Some of Ravi’s main interests are education, environment and alternative economics. His association with Pravah dates back since its inception, and he is currently on the board.
Suman Kumar - is currently a board member at Pravah and the principal of Blue Bells School International. She has a MA in History and B Ed. She also pursued an advanced course in Educational Inspection and Supervision from Institute of Education (I.O.E), University of London. Prior to this she was a lecturer in Miranda College. Suman has also conducted Teacher Training Workshops and programmes on 'Instructional Skills' and 'Cooperative Learning' in several schools in India- Cochin, Assam, Nagaland, Shilong, Bombay, Pune and others. In 1996, she was awarded the International Women's Day Medal for innovation in Education and Child Development by the Russian Centre of Science and Culture and Indo-Russian Literary Club, and in 2004, the National Award to teachers from CBSE.
Sunita Menon - works with Breakthrough as Manager, Education and is a board member. Sunita Menon has developed and implemented projects at national and international level on citizenship education, women's rights, sexuality and HIV/ AIDS. An experienced trainer, she has conducted capacity building programs with various civil society organizations, government departments, and corporate houses and with marginalized com
SMILE
SMILE is one of our oldest programs and has stayed on and grown alongside Pravah. SMILE (Students Mobilisation Initiative for Learning through Exposure) runs as a program across India with an aim to involve young people in activities which help them to belong and take more responsibility in whatever they do. SMILE has helped us reach out to many young and exciting minds, helping them to learn and explore with us - while of course having a lot of fun. We at Pravah run the Delhi Chapter of SMILE while continuously trying to spruce it up with endless cups of chai!
How do we actually do these abstract things? In SMILE you can do whatever excites you the most – films, theatre, writing, songs or even abstract art! There is however only one condition – you have to get involved with issues and people around you in ways which affect both.
In SMILE you will map out your own learning journey; we are just the navigators who will support and create those spaces that you need.
munities on diverse social issues .She has authored Jaano, Jaago, Jagaao – A Peer Educators Guide to HIV/AIDS Awareness and co authored Rights and Desires- a Facilitators Manual on Healthy Sexuality. Her articles on development issues have been published in national newspapers, magazines and websites. She has scripted and hosted education programs for Gyan Darshan, a national television channel.
Youth for Development
Youth for Development is a partnership between Pravah and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).
As part of Youth for Development (YfD) program you will get to work in a rural area for six months. This means that you can get the experience of working in these areas as well as use what you learn to help out in some issues which the people out there feel are important for them. But do you think you cannot do alone? Maybe then, you should read ahead – at YFD we also train you for two weeks, provide you with constant mentoring and a monthly stipend till you are with us. Now that does make your work a bit easier and a lot more fun! Who can apply? If you are an Indian resident between the age of 18 - 27 and have some basic knowledge of Hindi and English, you can apply!!
How is it different from any other rural internship?
Here you can learn in two ways: first, you get to learn when we actively design your trainings with our partners, like Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). So you are not simply left on your own while also having the chance to chart your own journey. Second, you of course gain a great deal from the experience of working in an organisation in the field you want. At the end of your placement you will also give your feedback and share your experience with us. The programme will pay for travel, accommodation, food, medical costs, training and a stipend While you are with us, you will also be required to raise a minimum of Rs. 5,000 which will contribute towards your action projects. Again, we will be around to assist you with these various activities, while you get to call the shots.
Testimonials
Ashok Pawar
"I was very blessed to experience six amazing months with the people of Pravah. I worked with the CYSD/plan project (Centre for Youth and Social Development), Orissa .These life changing experiences have encouraged me to work with the children in the future. For the first time I had to stay out of my comfort zone and my biggest problem was that I could not understand Oriya. However after some time I learnt some words which helped me to converse with the staff. Now I can understand the community."
Pooja Mehta
"When I see my past reflected against the living mirror of my YFD experiences, I wonder at its essential shallowness. My pre-YFD worldview is something I largely adapted from my surroundings, especially the views of my parents and peers. Now I find myself at philosophic loggerheads with the very people I care most for. My parents, for instance, think I have gone astray. My friends are sometimes uncomfortable with my new ideas, actions and responses. Today, I have to rebuild my relationships, and this process sometimes tests my patience. The other thing that has changed is the kind of life I would like to live. I am pulled between the familiar security of mainstream options, such as a corporate job and marriage, and the idea of a living a life helping those underprivileged by circumstances and society. If anything, YFD has made my life a little more uncertain… which, I suppose, is the burden of choosing to remove blinkers. A friend asked me the other day how I felt after my YFD stint. I told him, “I feel reborn.” For this wonderful experience, I am grateful to the people of Pravah, SIDH and Ghati."
Rajani
"I find myself at a fix when I have to describe in a few lines my experiences at YFD. The 6 months experience has given me answers to questions of why I keep going back to the villages for camps, why I love working with children and why I prefer attending a workshop rather than attending lectures in college. My YFD experience has pushed me to come out of the barbed wires that I had woven around myself and be more receptive to people."
Click here to download the application form for Youth for Development.
THE LAST DATE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS IS 25th OCTOBER 2010.
Send in your completed application forms to
sulab.kumar@pravah.org or
pooja.mehta@pravah.org. or to the following postal address:
Sulab Kumar, Pravah, C-24B Second Floor, Kalkaji, New Delhi-110019.
ABOUT VOLUNTARY SERVICES OVERSEAS
VSO is an international development organization that promotes volunteering to fight global poverty and disadvantage. Volunteering is at the heart of VSO's contribution to development VSO places over 1500 – 2000 volunteers each year in around 35 countries.
From Me To We
From Me to We (FMTW) is focused on inspiring adolescents to take up active leadership in areas of social change. To assist the youth do this, we at Pravah help create learning and life skills programs which we conduct in cooperation with the schools and teachers under the 'Pravah 'From Me to We' Conflict-Positive Curriculum'. Personal interaction and facilitation are a key components of our processes. Learning ought to be fun and it happens best when the learner takes responsibility for it. Therefore, theatre, games, simulation exercises, stories, case studies are a core component in our 42 hour school curriculum. We currently reach out to 3500 adolescents in over 30 schools, mainly in and around Delhi , Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka.
SUBPROGRAMS
Every module, topic or day in our workshop would contain elements of all of these key messages.
(I) The Self to Society Module
Guides and encourages a young persons understanding of self in relation ot the world around them through an inward look and an understanding of their relation to the wolrd around them. An individual is encouraged to grow in to the roles of a responsible brother, sister, friend, lover and neighbour, that will extend naturally into responsible citizenship. Social issues are put into the correct perspective -no right way is emphasized but skills and processes of arriving at your own stances are elaborated. Natural principles of going beyond stereotypes, appreciating diversity and practising tolerance are internalised through games, role plays and exercises.
(II) The Conflict Positive Process Module
We believe conflict is a positive process. Our interventions enable young people to recognize different dimensions of conflict in personal as well as social spheres and to deal with them positively.
(III) Citizenship and Voluntary action
The final phase of all our interventions focuses on developing in young minds an understanding of citizenship issues & constitutional rights. This is done by engaging young people in social action through projects and campaigns and thus working on issues of diversity, homelessness, peace, disarmament, poverty & sustainable development, gender, stereotyping and equality.
How will the program work in your school?
- Three facilitators, who are trained in creative programs on life skills and social responsibility, work with adolescents of IX or X standard.
- A staff member needs to be appointed to coordinate with and support the facilitator.
- You would be required to provide infra-structural resources and conveyance expenses for the program.
ACTION PROJECT
We encourage students to develop an Action Project where they can put their learnings into actions. To know about some of these initiatives click here. The following are a few examples of student-led projects supported by Pravah:
*Students collected 1500 petitions from public places in order to support the GreenPeace campaign to reduce global warming Ban the Bulb
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/press/releases/children-take-action-agai...
*A campaign to save the trees being cut in Delhi HCBS project and finally meeting with the Chief Minister, Shiela Dixit.
http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/yw/2007/04/13/stories/2007041302150600....
Teacher's Training
In Teacher's Training we believe that educators’ can play a very important role in creating socially responsible citizens. Our learnings of the last three years’ has reinforced our belief that that there is a need to enable and support teachers’ to make connections between education and the social reality of learners as well as the teachers themselves.
Further the professional development of a teacher has to be linked intrinsically to the teacher as a person in the socio economic context he/she lives in. This will enable teachers to move beyond the frameworks imposed by the education system and transform themselves into educators beyond boundaries. We support these through the teachers training initiatives and the Educators Collective.
THE WORLD IS MY CLASSROOM: AN INTERVENTION WITH TEACHERS
We train teachers, for a period of one year, to design and conduct a life skills program with students from classes VIII to XII. The training is conducted through modules on self and adolescents, managing conflicts positively and on instruction design and facilitation. The 50-hour introductory workshop will take place over 6 full days. Approximately 30 hours is required with students, either in the form of weekly or fortnightly sessions or 5 full day workshops. Initially a facilitator from Pravah will accompany the teachers during the sessions.
The goal is to build a nucleus of teachers who would run the program independently. The school based resource center would involve not only students and teachers but also school authorities school authorities and parents as partners in the process of tapping the immense potential of youth. For this we can facilitate setting up a Teachers Learning Center (TLC) on life skills and citizenship education in your school.
The activities of the resource center will be: Learning sessions for teachers in areas like reflective practices, assessment of students, classroom management, communication skills and democratic classrooms. Projects on active citizenship in areas like social sciences and language teaching. Exposure trips, which help learning and sharing innovations as well as to widen perspective on education.
The criterion for selecting the school would be as follows:
- The school has had a relationship with Pravah through the teacher training initiative.
- The school has access and is willing to engage and share intensively with 2-3 other schools in the locality, catering to students of diverse socio-economic backgrounds.
- The school is willing to commit physical space and other necessary infrastructure.
We are currently hosting a Teachers Resource Centre at Bluebells school, New Delhi.
Educators' Collective
The Collective is a network of school teachers, educators, and teacher trainers, who are working for social transformation through the agency of the youth. Most educators who have been through our teachers' program are included in this Collective. It creates support and facilitates professional development through shared and experience based learning.
A Teachers Platform for self-transformation, leadership, and community building for meaningful change in the classroom, school and the community is also a part of the Collective.
Some suggested activities for the collective are: Action groups
Thematic Workshop
Research Fellowships
Publication and newsletter
Learning Fellowships
Partnerships
In building its Streaming program, Pravah has initiated partnerships with a number of organizations and worked with them intensively to co-create youthcentric processes within those organizational spaces. Some of Pravah's Streaming partners are:
Thought shop Foundation (TF) – established in 1993 – and run by professionals whose expertise is in social communication. Their experience with young people was in the areas of adolescent reproductive health and gender. What they brought to the table was their knowledge of Kolkata and local areas, their relationships with young people who had leadership potential, and excellent skills in designing and producing resources. Pravah, on the other hand, was the catalyst for the Youth Resource Centres (YRCs). The idea of a YRC model emerged from TF’s engagement with Pravah. TF then translated it into action by adapting it to the local context. Thereafter, Pravah’s interventions included inputs in developing the overall YRC strategy, curriculum development, exposure to youth development processes, and training in the conflict positive framework, instructional design and facilitation. The result of the partnership is a model for setting up YRCs - four YRCs have been set up with a total of 54 members, equipped with resources and run by youth trainers.
Patang was founded relatively recently by a former Pravah team member who was familiar with Pravah’s processes and approach to youth development. They have adapted Pravah’s school and college programs to their context. Pravah’s role was to build the leadership of the team, facilitate organizational development processes and put critical organizational systems in place. Today, Patang is designing and implementing successful programs in collaboration not only with Pravah but other partners as well. One of these new partnerships includes designing and facilitating sessions at the MSW course in Sambalpur University. These partnerships illustrate the credibility Patang has gained over the years in Orissa. It is now gradually developing into a regional resource centre which will impact many more lives and organizations in the region.
SAHER was positioned even earlier on the organizational curve – a start up, in every sense. Even though it had started as a local youth group in 1997, it was registered as an organization only in 2003 and comprised a team of volunteers who organized sporadic events to bring people of different communities together and promote communal harmony. SAHER was part of the Change Looms program in 2006, and one of the Pravah team members facilitated intensive organisational change processes with them following the Change Looms development centre. Pravah’s mentoring helped SAHER conceptualize and design its college program, Parwaaz. Pravah also provided several exposure and training opportunities to the SAHER team so that they could develop their skills and understanding of youth development. At an institutional level, Pravah facilitated the SAHER team to explore what they were doing in Jogeshwari, why they were doing it, what their strengths and areas of improvement were and how they could achieve their objectives. A large part of the “how” concerned staffing, roles and building capacities of the team in facilitation and conflict positive. Today, SAHER has not only expanded its program to a second college, but also launched an adolescent program and a community centre in Jogeshwari. Moreover, it has facilitated similar team building processes with Magic Bus, an NGO building life skills in youth through sports.
Incubations
The incubation story is an active translation of our strategy to increase our outreach in an organic way that promotes ownership right to the field and allows energy to be built up and released at all levels. All concerned do what they are best at and without needing undue interference and creation of the inevitable eco system of citizenship education and action facilitators and organizations all over the country.
Pravah Jaipur Initiative and
The Youth Collective are two such chapters of the incubations story.
