Rekha has worked in strategy, design, project implementation, and team management with organizations such as SEWA Bharat and the American India Foundation. She was a Teach for India, Delhi 2016 cohort fellow and has worked with rural women artisans, weavers, farmers, and social enterprises to support and generate their livelihood.
CSIP in collaboration with Lodha Genius Programme, Ashoka University is proposing a 4-week curriculum-based module for high school students to create an experiential learning space that will allow them to the students to explore “giving back to society” and learn about the complex ground realities that entail at the grassroots level.
The Lodha Genius Programme (LGP), designed and delivered by Ashoka University, is a year-long program comprising a 4-week campus learning experience and year-round personal and academic mentorship.
The program selects and supports one hundred high-achieving students, fostering a strong and supportive student community from Grades 9 through until they start their careers. The Lodha Genius Programme is fully funded for students and for the schools that support them.
To significantly increase the proportion of Indians who will reach their full potential as changemakers, leaders, and philanthropists by nurturing and inspiring the nation's brightest young minds and instilling in them the spirit of giving back to the nation and society.
To build social consciousness among students and equip those who want to commit to social change with relevant tools and opportunities. An opportunity where students to get an idea of the external world and its different shades of reality through strong reflective weekly sessions, weekend outdoor visits, and leader interactions with the same industry.
The theme involves: Me, the Community, the World, IKIGAI for the social sector, Projects near their community Unleash- Program design
Knowledge, skills, and Value-based Workshops (KSV)
These will be knowledge-sharing workshops based on SKV conducted like a learning circle where we pick up a required skill or a specific topic of interest and try to engage with it through discussion and energizer activities. In collaboration with MTF & Capacity building Alumni will create skill development, knowledge sessions, and interaction events for LGP Students. Get exposure to the ground reality of how the social impact space operates and how the work of NGOs is directly impacting the lives of people.
Outcome/Impact: Students will have to get better visibility of the real ground-based challenges in a semi-urban setup and be equipped with community exposure and stakeholder interactions.
One-day Field visit
A day where LGP Students are exposed to the grassroots communities of the external world, reflecting on the challenges, and how they can contribute and build programs for their targeted audience. It is designed as a single-day organization or staggered community visit. It allows students to bring their social sector understanding to life as they engage with urban informal settlements and resettlement communities to build their understanding of issues like citizenship and identities, rights and entitlements, and sustainable development. Get exposure to the ground reality of how the social impact space operates and how the work of NGOs is directly impacting the lives of people.
Speaker session
Invite Leaders, Experts, and Ashokan alumni to share their journey, experience, learning, and challenges. A project that brings young people from different ideologies together to access space to learn and practice the skill of deep dialoguing and co-create a vision of India together. Using the medium of conversation as a tool, this program helps to find common threads and accept differences to nurture tolerance. The talks will cover different topics across domains.
High School students
Students gain a deeper awareness of social issues as well as the breadth of work in the sector and have exposure to on-ground initiatives and the opportunity to engage hands-on with them.
Young adults with an interest in solving social and systemic problems seriously consider career pathways in the social sector. Students developed an understanding and sensitization towards real-world problems and connected with self, society, and surroundings.
Creating responsible leaders by providing value-based education to make a meaningful contribution to the region. The program allows students to develop sensitivity to rural issues through direct experiential learning.
