Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world. And one who believes this would help others in conquering this weapon. Here is the success story of the social activist and educator from India – Shaheen Mistri, that has inspired many. Meet the force who has educated over 50,000 kids in a revolutionary manner.
The social activist and Teach For India founder speaks to Shaheen Mistri about her vision of reshaping the entire education system into a holistic syllabus that not only maximises the potential of each child but also organically instils empathy.
Mistri’s story is one of a never-ending quest to slightly even the scales in a deeply unequal world. Growing up outside India, in an environment of privilege and opportunity, she was struck by the inequity she saw every time she visited her homeland. By the age of 12, she was deeply involved in volunteer work, and at the age of 18, she began to ask herself: why not return to India and do this on a full-time basis? So, she dropped out of the US college where she was studying, moved to a low-income community in Mumbai, and began teaching.
The Early Life of Shaheen Mistri
Shaheen Mistri was born on 16 March 1971 in a Parsi family in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India and raised in an international standard. She is an Indian social entrepreneur and educator. Her father was a senior banker in Citigroup. Shaheen completed her schooling at Jakarta International School, Greenwich Academy. She completed her college at St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai.
She grew up in five countries around the world including Lebanon, The United States, Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Indonesia. Shaheen started volunteering at the age of 12. She returned to India when she was 18. She received her degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Sociology. She obtained a degree of Master’s in Education from the University of Manchester. Shaheen enrolled in an undergraduate program at Tufts University.
Before launching her non-profit organization, Sheheen’s interest in children’s education led her to volunteer as a teacher. She was teaching in diverse organizations in Mumbai including the School for the Blind, Happy Home and the E.A.R. school for the Hearing Impaired. She is the author of the book, Re-drawing India. She has been an Ashoka Fellow, an Asia Society 21 Leader, and a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum.
Akanksha Foundation, Shaheen’s Successful Project
It was this genetic streak that inspired Mistri to emerge from her secure life and walk the slums of Mumbai to see low-income families and children roaming the streets.
“I realised that if I could break the patterns of my life and bring in change, I could also help these poor kids do the same and help bring in new patterns that would be best for their growth and evolution,” she says.
Two years later, in 1991, she formally started the Akanksha Foundation, which pioneered the idea of using vacant classrooms in big schools, colleges and offices as learning centres for underprivileged children. Her family was supportive throughout, barring the concern about hygiene issues, which she promised to take care of. The path to starting Akanksha was rocky, with the main obstacles being raising funds and getting people to work for the cause.
“Inspiring people to sign up with the foundation as volunteers was tough. The registration process to establish Akanksha as a formal NGO was the second challenge. A law passed in the early ’90s stated that a non-profit had to be in place for three years and have a clean track record to get tax exemption for people donating money. Family friends connected me to Citibank, which chipped in. Soon, people joined us and funds poured in for the cause,” Shaheen says.
Currently, Akanksha reaches out to 5,000 children with eight centres and 16 schools located across Mumbai and Pune. The foundation now gets funding of almost Rs. 10 crores annually. Wonderfully enough, Akanksha had a strong and dedicated team and carried on. So far, the most interesting thing is her model did not need funds. More than 85% of the Akanksha kids sat for and passed the SSC exam. Nearly 60% of them went on to college and many are now graduating.
The Inception of Teach For India
Shaheen met the CEO of Teach For America – Wendy Kopp in 2006, which is when the thought of setting up a similar organization in India got triggered in her mind. She intended to bridge the educational gap between the privileged and unprivileged in India. Later, in 2008 summer, her dream of “Teach For India” came true. It stands to be one of the largest non-profit educational centres in the world. It placed over 1000 students in and around Mumbai and Pune in the centres of Teach for India to date.
Teach for India emphasises spreading the idea of quality education for all children across all walks of life through its alumni. TFI currently has 1,100 Fellows from the world’s top universities like IITs, IIMs, and Harvard. The Fellows work across 209 schools in seven cities of India – Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Hyderabad reaching approximately 38,000 students. Shaheen wrote her script, acted her part, and expressed who she was with passion and intensity. And that’s Why she is an inspiration to each of us.
Honours & Awards of Shaheen Mistri
Shaheen has been honoured with many prestigious awards for her achievements throughout her social entrepreneurial journey:
- 2002: Global Leader for Tomorrow by World Economic Forum
- 2003: Archana Trust Woman Achiever Award by Archana Trust, Mumbai
- 2006: Asia 21 Leader
- 2006: Selfless Service Award by Rotary International Club
- 2015: Outstanding Leadership by World Education Congress
Board Memberships
- Shaheen serves on the boards of Simple Education Foundation and Akanksha Foundation.
- Ex-member, Thermax Foundation
- Ex-member, Design for Change
- Advisory Board Member, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan
- Board Member, Teach to Lead
- Advisor, the Latika Roy Foundation
- Board Member, Thermax Social Initiatives Foundation
- Board Member, The Indian School Leaders institute
- Committee Member, National Council for Teachers Education, Government of India
Conclusion
We often do things for our children and family. We strive, struggle, and slog ourselves days and nights for our children. Aren’t we all doing the same thing for our family? What’s so special or unusual about it? Why do we still feel some emptiness in our hearts? Perhaps, it is because we somewhere lack peace of mind. That peace of mind comes to people like Shaheen Mistri when she does things for others’ children.
She has wonderful thoughts about helping the slum and street children in receiving education. Educated India will only help us to develop faster and live with zero dependencies on the foreign countries. Her calm nature, clear thoughts, and clean soul are all the important elements that one needs to live a peaceful life. Shaheen feels satisfied when she sees the children thanking her for imparting their knowledge to them.
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