Project Khushiyan aims to improve the employability of youngsters from low income family groups.  

 After our first pilot and immense learning, we are aiming for the 360* solution for employability and adult-life readiness for youth from under-resourced communities by connecting them one on one with mentors from professional fields. We believe this approach will be able to deliver learning which our mentees can use to enhance their career, financial and personal growth at a crucial age, with measurable results.
 
         We will continue to include one on one mentoring, which pairs educated professionals (25>40) with youth from under resourced communities (18>23). Through a structured, activity-based curriculum we will enhance important life & social skills such as goal setting, problem solving, customer interfacing, effective communication, financial literacy and critical thinking. These skills will be developed from the perspective of employment in specific sectors like hospitality, retail, sales and radio taxi services. Another feature of this 6 weeks long cycle will be sector orientation as also on the job exposure. I am glad to mention we already have certain partnerships with prospective employers on board.  

For employers we offer a pool of trained, well-spoken and stable entry level talent, of which there is currently scarcity in the employment market. As compared to a standard week long job training, the mentoring experience develops youth both personally as well as a professional through a customized and structured approach. This results in talent which is more focused and motivated and desires upward mobility thereby potentially reducing attrition, high training / retention costs and most importantly improving customer experience, which is a big pain point for employers as of now.

For mentors this is a great way to not only volunteer but to also see tangible impact of their time invested i.e putting someone on a growth path, which in turn has positive effects on the mentee's family as a whole.  

Through our first pilot we have already done such 30 mentor mentee connects. We are looking to expand our operations such that we can do more and more of what we do. For this we will have to invest in curriculum development, hire people for community mobilization and striking partnerships with companies.

India is looking to add a  work force of 402 million in the next 7 years from these demographics. The National Skill Development Mission also aims at skilling these individuals to address this huge spurt in the job creation. But until and unless, these hard skills development is not matched with apt soft skills development, we will always face a supply and demand gap in workforce. 

Hence, this is why we are fund raising.

Its an issue I am personally passionate about and have been working towards it for the last 8 months. During this time my interactions with these youngsters has made me realize how these youngsters lack role models that can positively influence them and help them channelize their careers. I believe, we all can look back at our lives and find that one person (or lack of) towards whom we can be grateful for how our lives shaped out to be. We are looking build similar social capital for these youngsters.

I am currently a student at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai pursuing my Masters in Social Entrepreneurship. I have a team of 5 people working along side me implementing this project from various backgrounds - psychologists, social workers, life trainers and business people. We hope with your help we can make a positive difference in the lives of these youngsters.

Our FB Page - https://www.facebook.com/projectkhushiyan/
A video from our mentor - mentee session -https://www.facebook.com/projectkhushiyan/videos