The Genesis

The zest to promote rural education sowed the seeds for the genesis of Aspire Foundation in March 2005. This non-profit initiative was conceived with the simple aim of supporting poor rural students to complete school education. The first batch consisted of 16 students from economically backward rural families in Nilakottai and Batlagundu blocks. Aspire Foundation provided financial support to these students to complete their school education and also conducted other programs to add value to the education these students received from school.

 

Mission

1. To improve educational opportunities for children from economically backward families, primarily in rural areas, with emphasis on overall development of the child
   1. To improve quality of education for rural children from economically weak families
   2. To ensure that poor rural children have access to education and are able to take informed decisions about their education & career
   3. To improve quality of education in schools by equipping schools with better learning materials, training and infrastructure such that they become effective child-friendly learning environments
2. To promote employment opportunities for rural youth through skill development, apprenticeship and entrepreneurship
3. To create awareness about preventive health care, nutrition and other health-related aspects among rural communities

 

Team

Our Board of Trustees comprises the following people.

PN Parvathy, Founder and Managing Trustee
Having completed B. Com.(Anna Adarsh) and Masters in Social Work (Madras School of Social Work), Parvathy was awarded a Young Professional Fellowship by CAPART (Ministry of Rural Development). She worked with the District Rural Development Agency (Government) at Erode, CAPART Headquarters at New Delhi and CIRHEP, an NGO doing watershed development in TN. She has also volunteered with Youth Challenge Australia in New South Wales. With a keen interest on delivering quality education, Parvathy is very committed to the cause of improving education standards in Nilakottai. She is also the Director of Eureka Schools, 2 rural nursery and primary schools in TN which provide high quality affordable education to rural children from socially and economically disadvantaged families.

M Kathiresan Prabu, Trustee
On completion of Dip. Agriculture (Gandhigram Rural Unversity), Prabu went on to do B. Com, MBA (The American College, Madurai) and ICWAI. Prabu brings to the board deep insights into the education and economic context of families in Nilakottai. Having grown up and studied in Nilakottai, he is dedicated to improving education quality for poor students in rural Nilakottai and Batlagundu. He works as finance manager in a reputed company.

S Raja Samuel, Trustee
Raja Samuel took up a basic degree in English Literature, post-graduate Degree in Social Work (Community Development) and has a Ph. D in NGO Networking. Before he began his career in teaching, Mr. Samuel took up an evaluation role in the State Resource Centre for Non-formal and Adult Education and worked in M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai. He then went on to teach at the Department of Social Work, Loyola College, Chennai. Since 1998, he has been teaching at the Madras School of Social Work, Chennai and also involved inresearch, research guidance &social development consultancy. He brings to our Board a wealth of academic background and experience with NGOs.

Deepak Dhayanithy, Trustee
Deepak has a well-rounded experience in finance and strategic management. Having completed B. Arch (SAP, Anna University) and Ph.D. (Fellow, IIM) Deepak took up research and teaching (at CEPT, Ahmedabad and MIT, Manipal). Subsequent to a career in risk analysis, Deepak is now Assistant Professor, Strategic Management at IIM, Calicut. Deepak focuses on Aspire Foundation’s growth strategies.

Implementation team
Our field team consists of 10 dedicated staff led by our Project Co-ordinator, Mr. M. Ravichandran. Ravi has done his B. Com. and MBA and has diverse work experience in projects and companies in and around NIlakottai. A systematic planner and implementer, Ravi has been an asset to Aspire Foundation ever since he joined us in 2007. The team, under his guidance handles day-to-day project planning, implementation and monitoring.

 

Awards & Achievements

• Case study on Aspire Foundation as a social entrepreneurship model authored by Deepak Dhayanithy, Assistant Professor, Strategic Management at IIM-Kozhikode and Brian Anderson, faculty, Ivey Business Schoolpublished in the case repository of the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario, Canada.
  https://www.iveycases.com/ProductView.aspx?id=58136


• Second prizein the Best NGO categoryamong 97 NGOs in Tamil Nadu– Awarded by UNICEF & Nalanda Way for commendable implementation of Art ArattaiArpattam's story writing & telling competition