Shadhika Shadhika

Support for Success

My aim is to make my community free from child marriage and empower all the young girls.

-Vidya, a young woman of Shadhika

Shadhika believes in the innovation of grassroots leadership to combat gender inequity and gender injustice in India.

Support for Success is a site-based program that provides long-term, unrestricted funding to grassroots feminist leadership. These local organizations incubate hyper-localized solutions to address unique challenges preventing young women from succeeding in school as a pathway to economic independence.

Focus Areas

This work includes after-school and in-school programming for girls from ages 10 to 18, including academic tutoring, rights education, and skills building in the areas of leadership, self-advocacy, and emotional and physical health.

2030 Goals

Through 2030, Shadhika will seek to work in states and with demographics that experience the widest gaps in formal learning and the lowest gender equality indicators in India to increase secondary school education among girls in these communities. In 2023, Shadhika is actively pursuing partnerships with organizations serving Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and LGBTQ+ communities in the states of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Northeast.

92%

Girls reported a positive change in their own perception of gender equity.

(India ranks 140 out of 156 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index 2021)

86%

Girls delayed early marriage during the pandemic.

(23.3% women in India aged 20-24 years were married before age 18 years of age)

100%

Students reached by Support for Success-funded programs passed their 10 and 12 grade exams.

(India ranks 114 out of 156 countries in terms of educational attainment per the Global Gender Gap Index 2021)

Partner Highlight

Milaan Foundation,
Uttar Pradesh, milaanfoundation.org

The Milaan Foundation educates and enables adolescent girls to become change makers in their own lives and in the communities they come from. We support their Girl Icon Program, which delivers comprehensive life-skills based education and human rights training to carry out collective social action projects on issues that affect adolescent girls.

Vikalp Sansthan,
Rajasthan, vikalpindia.org

Vikalp Sansthan works towards the vision of 'creating a violence-free society and achieving behavioral, social transformation for girls and boys based on equity, peace and justice, where all can enjoy physical and mental freedom, freedom from gender violence, equal access of resources and opportunities, and freedom from all sorts of discrimination.'

Sahiyar Stree Sangthan,
Gujarat, sahiyarstreesangthan.org

Sahiyar (Stree Sangthan), provides a safe space for women, awareness programming surrounding gender-based issues, and leadership development for adolescent girls. We are building Sahiyar’s capacity to deliver education and leadership development to young girls from marginalized sections of society through the use of a technology center.

Jabala Action Research Organisation,
West Bengal, jabala.org

Jabala works with the daughters of sex workers in the red-light districts of Kolkata. Shadhika supports an after-school program for girls aged 10- 24, including tutoring in English and computers, rights-based education, sex education, arts activities, exposure visits outside of their community, and actions within their community that promote gender equity.

Baale Mane,
Karnataka, baalemane.org

Baale Mane is a home for girls 16-24 years old who are orphans or have a single parent who is unable to care for them. Baale Mane provides comprehensive support to these young women, teaching them how to overcome the oppressive roles and expectations of women in their community and equipping them with the necessary skills to lead an independent life. We support life skills training for young women who are “aging out” of Baale Mane so they have the skills and rights-based knowledge they need to live independently.

Sakhi Trust,
Karnataka, sakhitrust.org

Sakhi Trust is a women-led, grassroots organization working with Dalit and Devadasi women and girls, and other marginalized populations in Karnataka.

Centre for Women and Girls
Manipur, www.cwgmanipur.in

Center for Women and Girls (CWG) is a team of young men and women from different ethnic communities working in the foothills of Manipur, an Indian state that borders Myanmar. CWG's work revolves around gender equity, child rights, peace processes & livelihoods.

Faith Foundation
Meghalaya, faithfoundationshillong.org

Faith Foundation, located in Shillong, Meghalaya, is led by a small interdisciplinary team of young women professionals from the Khasi tribe who adopt a shared leadership model. Their mission is to empower children, young women, and communities in Meghalaya to voice their rights against abuse and exploitation