Press Release
Dream a Dream, a non-profit organization based in Bangalore that empowers young people from vulnerable backgrounds with critical life skills to thrive in the 21st century, today announced a grant from Echidna Giving, a private philanthropic foundation focussed on advancing girls’ education in countries with limited resources and modest education budgets. Dream a Dream develops critical life skills in young people, including 50% girls, growing up in challenging circumstances in India and helps them prepare for a fast-changing, uncertain and complex future.
“This collaboration between Dream a Dream and Echidna Giving aspires to improve the quality of education and learning in the education systems through a focus on Life Skills to help young people, especially girls, be better prepared for careers and jobs in a fast-changing world. Echidna Giving is specifically participating in a 3-year effort to expand Dream a Dream’s programmatic impact and research agenda by transferring its model to the Indian government and NGO partners.” Dream a Dream Chief Executive Suchetha Bhat said.“We are excited to support Dream a Dream’s work to influence the wider ecosystem in India in life skills education. We are especially impressed with the effort Dream a Dream has put into developing and validating a life skills assessment tool to measure improvement in life skills among disadvantaged children. It is one of the first standardized scales to measure life skills that were developed in the Global South. We at Echidna Giving believe it is important to support efforts to collaboratively build a stronger evidence base for life skills that are also deeply contextualized,” said Erin Ganju, Managing Director at Echidna Giving. At the centre of Dream a Dream’s approach is the belief that children have the potential to overcome adversity and achieve their true potential. Currently, Dream a Dream works with 10,000 young people a year through two innovation labs – After School Life Skills Programme and Career Connect Programme. It has trained over 7000 teachers/educators impacting over 175,000 children and young people. The Happiness Curriculum designed in partnership with the Delhi government has impacted nearly a million children through government partnerships. By working with the Aga Khan Foundation, Dream a Dream is also running programs in Kenya.
About Dream a Dream
Dream a Dream empowers children and young people from vulnerable backgrounds by developing their life skills to overcome adversity and flourish in the 21st century. Life Skills are defined as ‘Abilities for positive and adaptive behaviours that help Individuals deal with demands and challenges of daily living’ (Source: WHO). Established in 2000, the organization has developed a unique and award-winning Life Skills Approach that has impacted the lives of over 1 Million children and young people in India. Dream a Dream is committed to change the experience of education for every child in the country so that they have the Life Skills and social and emotional abilities needed to truly Thrive in the face of poverty and adversity. Dream a Dream works on a strong collaborative approach with local charities, corporates, volunteers, governments, media, expert consultants and a host of national and international strategic partners. For more information, visit https://dreamadream.org, and follow on Twitter @dreamadreamind
About Echidna Giving
Echidna Giving is a private funder who is committed to deploying $500 to $700 million towards new horizons in girls’ education over the next 40 years, in lower-income countries where girls are most disadvantaged. Our vision is a world in which the promise of girls’ education has been delivered: girls grasp greater opportunities to learn and earn, passing on the value of education to their own children, thereby enabling better prospects for each successive generation. Echidna Giving’s role in delivering on the promise of girls’ education is two-fold: 1. To be a catalyst for high-potential accelerators: programs and initiatives to fast-track improvements in education outcomes for girls. 2. To support a robust ecosystem in girls’ education so that effective ideas can take root and thrive. To learn more, visit https://echidnagiving.org/, and follow on Twitter @EchidnaGiving.