After an unpredictable year, young people are driven
to join a transformed world of work

79% of alumni improved job readiness.

Alumni report an increase in confidence and career awareness to achieve their goals.

120% more alumni joined the workforce*.

Greater student footfall on campus led to increased career counseling this year.

27.5% more women alumni started jobs*.

We saw a surge in hirings from women-friendly workplaces and on technical campuses.

4X growth in alumni families’ avg. income.

Families added or saw an increase in the income level of one earning member.

Students built transferable skills based on the 4Cs (communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration) to start careers they want, improve financial security, and be ready for a hybrid workplace.

*Against a 3-year avg (taken to account for 2020’s economic shutdown)

0
Initial
A
79% of alumni improved job readiness.
B
120% more alumni joined the workforce*.
C
27.5% more women alumni started jobs*.
D
4X growth in alumni families’ avg. income.

79% of alumni improved job readiness.

Alumni report an increase in confidence and career awareness to achieve their goals.

120% more alumni joined the workforce*.

Greater student footfall on campus led to increased career counseling this year.

27.5% more women alumni started jobs*.

We saw a surge in hirings from women-friendly workplaces and on technical campuses.

4X growth in alumni families’ avg. income.

Families added or saw an increase in the income level of one earning member.

They are picking up resilience and resourcefulness early in schools

After an impactful pilot, we kicked off Svapoorna (a life skills program) across schools in north India. It enabled teenagers to have a problem-solving attitude and advocate for their ideas, like Roshni, who wants to be a doctor.

“When you see a challenge, don’t panic. Find a solution.”

As a result, Roshni has spread awareness in her village about the dangers of spilling waste on the roads. She’s learned about new career choices, and her growth has reassured her family of her ability to look after herself.

Becoming more engaged learners in college classrooms

Impact on teachers

Impact on students

Under the Samarth project with DHE, Haryana, teachers and employability skill instructors completed Faculty Advancement Bootcamps (FAB) to improve their facilitation skills and ability to engage students, resulting in a better classroom learning experience.

0
Initial
A
Impact on teachers
B
Impact on students

Impact on teachers

Impact on students

Exploring internships, business, and
freelancing to widen career horizons

3.1

Young people are finding internships to be an outlet for experimentation and growth. More students, especially young women, did internships across agriculture, education, defense, IT, and retail industries to discover their interests and strengths.

"I am a learner,"

shares Anupam, who wants to be a civil service officer. He did his first internship at a marketing agency, where he learned about social media marketing. And started a second one in graphic design - this time in a leadership position!

3.2

Youth are pursuing their passions and creating an additional source of income with freelancing. With Swarambh, many young, rurban women have received mentorship from experienced freelancers, built portfolios, and done gig projects.

"I have more talents than just my education,"

asserts Kajal, who was thrilled to improve her technical and marketing skills, and start her career as a freelance photographer. She often assists her father (a wedding photographer) at shoots. Now when people question her choice, her father doesn't get discouraged - he shows confidence in her craft.

3.3

Many young people want better exposure to start a business over a traditional career. We continued Youthscape, a start-up idea competition, and piloted BMC (Business Model Canvas) Design Lab, where students built a better business understanding.

"I have the confidence skills give you."

BMC enabled Deepak, a natural entrepreneur, to create a bird's eye view of his business "Midbench." Armed with a solid understanding, skills, and problem-solving attitude, he took his idea into the first round of auditions for Shark Tank Season 2!

And growing as leaders who believe
in giving back to the community

“I want to do well for my community."

Our alumni department became an independent, community-based organization. One of their initiatives, Alumni Chapter Heads, encouraged local volunteerism efforts.

For Manish, interested in community action, the Chapter Head election was a way to test his skills. He used his communication and critical thinking skills to make a winning campaign and lead a successful chapter.

“I’ve learned how to lead better.”

In the Young Leaders' Journey, 28 leaders from 18 organizations networked, started community initiatives and nurtured their leadership skills.

Poonam, from Oscar Foundation, learned about new leadership practices. Many insights made her curious, but one thing that stayed is the Theory of Change - how to impact society through collective efforts.

“Why am I not my favorite person?”

After 2 years of participatory research to understand young women’s challenges in starting their careers, Medhavi Association launched Simmer – a community to strengthen women alumni’s agency and support their career progression journeys.

The community’s solutions focus on critical areas like self-belief, peer support, and negotiation skills for young women.

“Will I have Internet for this class?”

The Alumni Catch-Up survey revealed career and life challenges made worse due to Covid, like digital device and internet access issues, along with the impact of major life stressors.

While a few alumni turned their passion into community service and businesses, the survey indicated how we need to be better prepared as a society, especially for young people just at the start of their careers.

Network of young leaders

Community for young women

Pandemic’s toll on careers

They have relentless energy to realize their unique dreams

"I realized my true potential."

Akash always wanted to be an engineer. However, when it came to clearing interviews at the end of his diploma, he struggled to articulate his thoughts.

At Medha, Akash grew from nervously dropping calls in online classes to taking a 1.5-hour session alone. He built critical career skills and brought out the best in himself - finding greater self-belief that he could crack any interview.

In his next interview at a German automobile company, Akash stood out from his peers and got a job of his interest. These days, he's learning about his working style, taking guidance from seniors, and figuring out his growth pathway while supporting his family.

- Akash Verma, Class of 2021

That will move 1 lakh students in the public education system to become career-ready in the next year.

Our priorities for achieving the audacious goal of impacting 1 lakh students are:

Deepening quality in our direct student engagement

Driving greater adoption of ‘the Medha way’ at scale

Strengthening our data and impact evaluation system

Learn more about our work
in the Annual Report for 2021

Click here

After an unpredictable year, young people are driven to join a transformed world of work