Shadhika

Reading Time: 6 minutes It is 4:00am as Sabah and I quietly leave our hotel and arrive at the train station in Kolkata.  This is my first experience in a train station and taking a train in India. Arriving there, we find families sleeping among the hustle and bustle of people going about their travel day.  We board the   

Reading Time: 3 minutes Dear Friends of Shadhika, Today we are sharing, with very mixed emotions, the news of an important leadership transition at Shadhika. Kim Burnett, Shadhika’s President and CEO, will be stepping down in June, 2020. While we know that Kim is ready for her next big adventure, and we are truly excited to see what she   

Reading Time: 3 minutes The beginning of a new year or a new decade have always been times of deep reflection for me. This year has been no different. As I take stock of Shadhika’s accomplishments over the past decade and consider the organization’s future, I have made the hard decision that it is time for me to step   

Reading Time: 2 minutes Many of us have been following the unrest surrounding the passage of India’s Citizenship Amendment Act. We wanted to share the following thoughts on this moment from the perspective of one of the young women we support. We all are one and that’s how we Indians live. Our country is known for being the biggest   

Reading Time: 5 minutes Growing up as girls in India, our scholars face many challenges. Society teaches them that they are born a burden. Many believe girls shouldn’t leave the home, be educated or speak up. On a daily basis, they interact with these predominant attitudes, and negotiate for their futures. Rather than being married at an early age,   

Reading Time: 3 minutes Tell us about yourself?My name is Rupi*. I’m a member of Baale Mane. I have been here for the past 7 years. What do you feel about Baale Mane?I feel very happy and safe. I’m getting education so I’m thankful to them. Tell us about your family.I lost my parents when I was a kid.   

Reading Time: 4 minutes It all started with a simple request for a video to explain Shadhika’s work and impact.  That request led us to reflect on and clarify what matters to us as an organization, why we do this work, and what impact we are looking to have on this world. Drawing from our foundation and history, the   

Reading Time: 4 minutes Dear Friends, My past visits with STOP India in Delhi have sometimes been bittersweet. Two years ago, Shadhika made a bet and provided start-up funding to help this organization that works with survivors of sex trafficking launch a business venture to teach the women how to manufacture apparel and jewelry for sale. The venture provided   

Reading Time: < 1 minutes We’ve Moved! Shadhika is now calling the Posner Center for International Development “home.” Home to over 60 international development nonprofits, the Posner Center will help Shadhika exchange ideas with other like-minded organizations, cut costs and improve the products and services we deliver. Our new address is: Shadhika 1031 33rd Street, Suite 194 Denver, CO 80205 Phone:   

Reading Time: 4 minutes By Megan Harper, Communications & Donor Relations Associate at Shadhika Medhavinee Namjoshi (Medha) is the Chief Project Coordinator at Vacha, Shadhika’s partner in Mumbai. I sat down with Medha in October to learn how Vacha is making huge strides in changing cultural norms of a girl’s status in India. Vacha works with at-risk girls age   

Reading Time: < 1 minutes We are excited to welcome our new interns Soujanya Sridharan and Mitchell DeVito to Shadhika! Both will be working to support the following efforts this year: Shadhika’s Capacity Building Program and Partner Conference in Kolkata and Shadhika’s Life Skills Initiative. Soujanya is native to Bangalore, India and is finishing up her Master’s in Finance and   

Reading Time: 2 minutes Meet Nandita! Nandita* is a 2015 Shadhika College Scholarship Recipient. During Shadhika’s January 2016 Donor Trip to India, we had the opportunity to speak with Nandita about her college experience this past year. Nandita is the eldest daughter of her family; she has one younger sister who is in middle school. Nandita’s father works as   

Reading Time: 2 minutes This Giving Tuesday the girls we serve want to thank you, the donors who are making a huge positive impact on their lives. Because of your support, in 2015 Shadhika was able to expand its reach to two new sites in Delhi and Bangalore. In Delhi, we are supporting STOP India – an organization that   

Reading Time: 3 minutes One morning in early May, I opened my email and saw the subject “RINKI.” My heart sank. Rinki is one of the 37 ‘Dalit’ (untouchable) girls from Buddha’s Smile School (BSS) that we have been supporting to attend middle school. I had just seen Rinki and her mother during our March site visit and congratulated   

Reading Time: 3 minutes Over the summer, I spent three weeks in India visiting the groups we support, both old and new, discussing their work during the past year and their plans for the future. It was wonderful to hear that this year, the first 3 girls will graduate from secondary school at Buddha’s Smile School in Varanasi and