Lasting social change starts with strong local organisations. When grassroots partners have the right support, they are able to run better programmes, reach more people, and create long-term impact.
Our 2026 cohort includes 16 grassroots organisations working across eight states in India. These partners work with children and young people from marginalised communities and focus on key areas such as foundational literacy, gender justice, climate awareness, rights education, digital literacy, STEM, and peace education. Their work aligns with SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality).
Our approach is simple. When organisations grow stronger, their impact grows too. Across the cohort, partners are moving from informal, passion-led work to more structured and consistent programme delivery. With better systems and planning, some have increased their reach by up to 10 times.
One huge example is our partnership with Y-Ultimate through the Dare to Fly initiative. This programme focuses on creating safe sporting spaces for girls from underserved communities in Delhi NCR. Through this effort, 150 girls and young women were supported to build confidence, leadership, and life skills through sport.
In 2025, Dare to Fly included three training camps and a two-day girls-only tournament. The programme saw strong participation. A total of 159 girls attended the camps, with 58 attending all three. The tournament saw 148 participants attend at least one day and 127 attend both days. In total, 10 teams took part, with participants coming from eight communities and three schools, along with external teams such as St. Stephen’s College and a team from Lucknow.
For many girls, this was their first experience of structured sport. The girls-only environment helped them feel more comfortable speaking up, trying new things, and taking leadership roles. They built friendships across communities and developed skills such as teamwork, communication, and decision-making. For many, the experience also shaped new goals for their future.
Women coaches played an important role in the programme. They led training sessions, managed logistics, and supported participants throughout. This also helped strengthen leadership within the organisation itself and created visible role models for the girls. You can learn more about the programme’s impact here.
Across the broader cohort, we are seeing similar shifts. Organisations are improving how they design and deliver programmes, strengthening internal systems, and building more consistent engagement with communities. This has led to better participation, stronger learning environments, and increased trust from the communities they serve.
These changes may begin at the organisational level, but their impact goes much further. As programmes become stronger, they create better experiences for children and young people. As young people grow in confidence and skills, they influence their families and communities. Over time, this creates a wider ripple of change that extends beyond the original programme.
The results are especially visible among young girls. Through initiatives like Dare to Fly, they are gaining confidence, building leadership skills, and forming strong peer networks. They are becoming more comfortable taking initiative and thinking about their future in new ways. They are also learning to take up space, make decisions, and support one another.
Capacity development is not only about funding programmes, it is about strengthening organisations so they can continue to grow and adapt. It is about supporting people who are already working within communities and helping them improve how they deliver impact.
As we move forward, we aim to build more partnerships with grassroots organisations and expand this network. By continuing to invest in local leadership, we can reach more children and young people and create more opportunities for learning, growth, and leadership.
Strong organisations lead to deeper community work, that is how lasting change happens. We hope to continue our efforts through various sorts of support for our partners in the coming times.