July starts quiet, then bursts into life as colleges reopen and students join bootcamps. This time, our Core Programs team - working as a learning lab for ideas that can potentially be scaled - rolled out their 3C strategy.
It’s always exciting to stand at the edge of innovation and change
Capacity
Learning beyond the classroom
We launched Emplify with AI - a self-led course for youth to use AI responsibly for learning and work. It’s live on Medha’s open-source platform for continuous learning, where 4,500 students are exploring 7 new programs from financial literacy to professional networking.
Connection
Familiar face in a new workplace
In our first Anchor Circle, alumnus Nikhil eased 17 students into their first job at Baxy Limited. An anchor can be the difference between quitting out of discomfort versus speaking up to find a footing. We will start more such circles across cities and workplaces.
Community
Networks for professional growth
We launched 7 specialized career tracks in our freelance program, Swarambh. Each track is led by a dedicated intern building online and offline communities - where students learn from industry mentors, collaborate, and cheer each other on in their fields.
After all the time spent in huddles, you scramble to launch and taste success
Months of planning and perseverance led to stronger academia, government, and industry partnerships in this quarter.
- ABihar
- BHaryana
- CUttar Pradesh
But when ideas are put into practice, you encounter something different - something real
366 educators trained across 11 bootcamps, reaching 20,280 students
It was a quarter where Facilitation Advancement Bootcamps (FAB) were in full swing. Each session felt different - shaped by the energy, expertise, and curiosity of teachers in the room.
Young faculty members brought eagerness to break the status quo, principals joined in to listen and offer support, and experienced educators eager to stay connected asked, “what’s next?”
Youth using your career center in new ways creates opportunity
A place to dream beyond the classroom
More than 7,000 students have reimagined 35 Medha career centers across colleges in North India. Sitting in circles, practicing interviews, using a laptop for the first time - it’s where youth grow a belief that becoming is always within reach.
As faculty drop in, employers come to mentor, or alumni return to guide, these spaces have become launchpads for exploring internships - an important step - as students who complete internships are 2X more likely to enter the workforce earlier.
Read the full story - The Missing Room
A teacher pushing past the status quo proves that students’ dreams are valid
A teacher pushing past the status quo proves that students’ dreams are valid
“I wanted students to see that their dreams were valid.”
When Gaurav became the Training and Placement Officer at a college in Haryana, he inherited a campus with no placement record and little industry connection. Students, especially from Hindi-medium backgrounds, lacked confidence.
But Gaurav believed every student deserved a fair start. Through the Facilitation Advancement Bootcamp (FAB), he mapped local industries, built student engagement, and helped host the college’s first-ever placement drive.
As a result, 18 students received job offers and 20+ MoUs were signed with companies across sectors. It is as Gaurav says, “Change begins when we put our students first.”
And funders engaging with intent fills
a routine interaction with hope
Meeting students, educators,
and officials in Bihar
and officials in Bihar
01
As part of our new partnership supporting young people in vocational courses at Bihar’s ITIs, Deloitte’s team met students and officials, had candid to-and-fro with educators, and deepened their understanding of institutional strengths and gap.
A bid for greater transparency,
connection, and care
connection, and care
A bid for greater transparency,
connection, and care
connection, and care
02
We hosted our first all supporters’ meet (Medha In Real Life) online. As friends and partners of Medha asked about young women’s career trajectories or the digital divide in India, we developed a closer understanding of our operations and how durable skills get built.
That’s when you realize, innovation isn’t about getting everything right
When innovation is in the middle of real lives and limited resources, every experiment has meaning and consequence. We take risks to learn with something like Anchor Circles, or stay safe with familiar approaches like placement drives. The key is balancing both, so we can:
Double internship
completion from 15%
Increase female alumni
labor force participation beyond 33%
Help more alumni cross the income
threshold for economic inclusion, beyond 28%
It’s about listening deeply and learning together, for change to take root
A student asking about AI as we grow into a learning lab. An ITI educator’s “what’s next?” as we scale employability training. A supporter’s concern about Internet access as we deepen transparency.
Now, as we reach over 400,000 students across 8 education departments in 4 states, we continue to listen and learn – to keep innovation alive not as a quarterly exercise, but as a culture.
