SGBS Unnati Foundation, established in 2011, is dedicated to empowering less educated, underprivileged, and unemployed youth by providing them with the necessary skills to secure gainful employment. Through a comprehensive 35-day training program encompassing 300 hours, participants are equipped with spoken English language skills, life skills, values, basic computer knowledge, and vocational training. Unnati ensures a guaranteed placement in a corporate setting with social securities.
The foundation’s primary objective is to assist the youth of the nation, aged between 18-25 years, in realizing their ambitions and enabling them to contribute positively to society, regardless of their challenging backgrounds. Unnati Foundation acknowledges the
importance of nurturing individuals from their respective communities and strives to uplift them.
In addition to its core training program, Unnati Foundation hosts various initiatives for youth development. “UNXT” caters specifically to youth residing in rural areas, providing them with valuable opportunities and resources. “SUGAM” is designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs by offering guidance and mentorship.
What sets Unnati Foundation apart is its unique selling proposition (USP) of guaranteed job placements for the youth, thus ensuring a secure future for them. By playing a pivotal role in empowering the youth, Unnati Foundation endeavors to uplift an entire generation and help them rise above the poverty line.
The Visionary
Unnati was founded in 2003 by Mr. Ramesh Swamy with the aim of benefiting society by closing the gap between unemployed youth and employment through vocational training programs. His vision was to uplift the standard of living for underprivileged families by assisting youth in securing employment.
Unnati has consistently maintained a 100% job placement record since its inception and focuses on equipping individuals with lifelong skills. Till date, Unnati has trained over 80,000 youths and aims to train 100,000 youth in the current financial year.
Driving Transformation Through Technology
Technology plays a crucial role in the growth and survival of any organization, including Unnati. Unnati understands the importance of leveraging technology to scale, save time and money, and simplify processes. Unlike other organizations, Unnati has embraced technology right from its inception, making it an integral part of our DNA.
As a rapidly growing organization, it has trained over 40,000 youth in the past three years. All its data, including contact information, is securely stored on a cloud platform. This allows the foundation to provide timely reports to its sponsoring partners and governments. The platform has been customized to its specific requirements, capturing every necessary detail for its partners. From inquiries and admissions to attendance tracking, self-learning apps, and digital certifications, the foundation’s entire training journey is managed through this platform.
To foster a culture of continuous learning, the organization has developed a white-labelled app called Unnati Learning App (ULEAPP) that encourages youth to engage in ongoing skill development. Digital certificates are provided, which can be accessed anytime and anywhere. These certificates can also be easily shared on social platforms to enhance employment opportunities for our youth.
In order to bridge the gap between Unnati trained talent pool and companies seeking freshers, it has created a platform called ‘UDHYOGAM.’ This platform allows companies to filter their requirements and shortlist candidates based on video resumes that the organization has asked them to upload.
As a not-for-profit organization, financial accuracy and transparency are paramount. Unnati has implemented a robust financial system that ensures accountability across all its centers. This technology enables the foundation to track expenses, allocate spend to various categories and allows employees to directly upload bills and manage expenses through a dedicated app.
At Unnati, the team always thinks and acts with a forward-looking mindset, whether it’s adopting technology or making other strategic decisions. It is committed to staying ahead of the curve to better serve its mission and the youth it empowers.
Empowering India’s Youth
According to Mr. Swamy, it is essential to prevent India’s demographic advantage from turning into a disadvantage. Ensuring that the youth of the country are gainfully employed is crucial. The continuous demand for employment poses a significant challenge due to technological advancements that threaten to replace jobs at lower levels.
To address this challenge, the key lies in equipping youth with the necessary skills, improving their attitude and communication abilities, instilling in them a mindset of continuous learning, and strengthening their value system and ethics. By focusing on skill development, fostering a positive attitude, and effective communication, we can enhance their employability and enable them to adapt to evolving job requirements.
Mr. Swamy emphasizes the need to create a workforce that is not only skilled but also equipped with the right mindset and values to thrive in the global economy. By addressing these aspects, Unnati ensures that its youth remain employable, find meaningful employment, and contribute positively to society’s progress.
Forging Powerful Alliances
Unnati maintains regular communication with various companies, actively seeking their support to expand its operations. The new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) laws have proven to be highly beneficial, particularly for transparent organizations like Unnati, where the impact of its work is clearly defined and delivered.
Unnati’s strong governance practices have played a pivotal role in establishing its credibility. This is evidenced by the fact that the foundation is among the few NGOs listed in the social stock exchanges of the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) and NSE (National Stock Exchange). Its commitment to efficient management is further reflected in its administrative expenses, which are maintained at below 5%, demonstrating Unnati’s cost-effectiveness and responsible resource allocation.
These factors collectively contribute to Unnati’s ability to attract more CSR partners. Companies recognize the foundation’s transparent operations, impactful work, and strong governance framework, making Unnati Foundation an appealing choice for their CSR initiatives.
Pioneering Change
Mr. Swamy strongly believes that successful social entrepreneurs possess certain essential qualities. These include tenacity, perseverance, dedication, passion, and, most importantly, a solution that can benefit numerous individuals or families within society. Embarking on the path of a social entrepreneur requires a long-term commitment, and it is only through unwavering dedication and a wholehearted commitment to the cause that one can navigate the challenges and sustain the journey.
Social entrepreneurs need to identify and develop innovative approaches or interventions that can address pressing social challenges and provide sustainable solutions.
By embodying these qualities, social entrepreneurs can effectively navigate the often-arduous journey of creating social change and contribute to the betterment of society.
Empowering a Generation
After the challenging years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Unnati has embarked on its scaling process. Setting ambitious targets, the foundation aimed to train 25,000 youth for the year 2022-2023 and surpassed expectations by achieving a commendable 28,000 trainees.
In the current financial year, Unnati has set an even more audacious goal of training and assisting 100,000 youth across 10 states. This endeavor is groundbreaking in many ways, as there are limited skilling organizations in the country capable of delivering offline classes to such a vast number of individuals.
By striving to reach this milestone, Unnati aims to create a significant impact and leave a lasting legacy in the field of skill development and youth empowerment. The foundation’s
dedication to scaling its operations demonstrates its commitment to positively transforming the lives of a large number of young individuals.
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