The Akanksha Foundation currently runs a network of 26 innovative schools in partnership with local municipal corporations to provide free, high-quality, holistic education to children from low-income communities in Pune, Mumbai, and Nagpur. It currently serves 14,000+ students and 5,100 alumni through its 850+ educators.

Akanksha was set up in 1991 by Shaheen Mistri with funding from KINOE. The first Akanksha center had 15 children and was based at Holy Name School in Colaba, Mumbai. We have continued to provide financial support ever since.

Akanksha builds a 20-year partnership with the children, their parents and community, and creates pathways out of poverty through transformative education. Its vision is to equip all children with the knowledge, skills and values they need to lead empowered lives.

69% of Akanksha students graduate high school with better performance [first class or distinction] than state or national average. 75% of alumni have enrolled in undergraduate programs, surpassing national averages in India. 74% of Akanksha’s alumni are employed full time with average monthly income that is more than double the national average for individuals aged between 25-30. Akanksha alumni scored 15% higher in professional skills such as communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills than their peers. 50 Akanksha alumni have been admitted to prestigious national and international institutions, and 30% colleges in Mumbai and Pune.

Teach for India was founded in 2008 with the support of KINOE on the belief that India’s education system is the fastest, most effective path to ensure that every child lives in an India free of poverty and filled with love. KINOE has continued to provide funding since.

Teach for India’s mission is to build a movement of leaders working together at all levels of the system to provide an excellent education to all of India’s children.

It has crafted a unique blueprint rooted in the belief that all children in India must attain an excellent education, which became the building blocks of the Teach For India movement.

Teach for India catalyzes a wider movement of leaders towards systemic change in India’s education landscape. Around 1,000 Teach for India fellows teach in classrooms across 8 cities. 33,500 students are directly impacted in its classrooms. Around 5,500 Alumni continue to serve children at depth and scale, with 50 million children reached by its Alumni movement and over 160 organizations founded by Alumni.

Over the past 15+ years, Teach for India has demonstrated the effect of a strong multiplier - deep impact, at all levels of the system, nationwide. Teach for India’s north star is 50,000 Leaders working collectively, with love, to transform the lives of 1 in 10 children from low-income communities in its regions, through an education that unleashes the potential of Self, Others, and India.

Since 2000 with the support of KINOE, Lo Kunphen School has been educating young people from high Himalayan backgrounds, with a specific focus on transmitting the amchi tradition of Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan Medicine) to present and future generations. The school was founded by brothers Amchi Gyatso Bista and Amchi Tenjing Bista who represent a lineage of practitioners serving as court physicians and Buddhist priests to the King of Lo (Mustang) for many generations.

The school was started with 11 and now has 61 students. Students in Classes 1-6 divide their time between Lo Kunphen School in Lo Manthang-5, Upper Mustang, Nepal and a branch of the school located in Hemja-25, Pokhara. This model allows students to benefit from a culturally-rooted education in a rural, high mountain environment (often close to their families) and the opportunity to proceed through their annual curriculum without disruption due to challenges of climate and teacher shortages – a common problem for remote, high-mountain students in Nepal. The students in Classes 7-12 reside year-round in Lo Kunphen’s Pokhara location.

Beyond providing a culturally appropriate and fully modern and comprehensive education, and helping secure the future of Sowa Rigpa in Nepal, the school strives to create a caring and affectionate environment for students, instilling values of self-reliance and encouraging students to become successful citizens of the country and world. Many of Lo Kunphen’s students come from poor or otherwise underprivileged families and communities, both from Mustang and from neighboring regions in the Nepal Himalaya.

ABC Nepal is a non-profit, social organization established in 1987 by Durga Ghimire and associates. ABC Nepal stands for Agro-forestry, Basic Health and Cooperative. It works for women’s and children’s rights with a special focus on prevention of human trafficking. It was the first organization in Nepal to publicize the issue of trafficking in persons.

Women’s low status, cultural traditions, and economic dependence make them vulnerable to trafficking, often lured by promises of better opportunities abroad. The scope of trafficking in Nepal is complex due to porous borders, poverty, unemployment, gender discrimination, and migration. Major forms of trafficking include sexual exploitation, exploitation of minor workers abroad, child labor, bonded labor, and illicit transplantation.

ABC Nepal addresses trafficking within the larger context of gender-based violence and socio-cultural realities. Beyond crime prevention, the organization focuses on building systems and empowering marginalized communities with education, skills, and economic opportunities.

In addition to prevention and interception, ABC Nepal rehabilitates rescued women and girls by providing counseling, education, skills training, medical care, food, and shelter. Seed funding is offered to start small businesses, helping them achieve economic independence and reintegration into society.

Since its foundation, ABC Nepal has served over 8,000 children in 190 countries.