American India Foundation

American India Foundation Learn more at www.AIF.org
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American India Foundation (AIF) is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged, with a special focus on women, children and youth, through high-impact interventions in education, health, and livelihoods because poverty is multidimensional. Working closely with local communities, AIF partners with NGOs to develop and test innovative solutions and with governments to create and scale

sustainable impact. Founded in 2001in the aftermath of the devastating Gujarat earthquakeby the Indian diaspora in the USA, AIF has impacted the lives of 6.7 millionof India’s poor. Withoffices in New York and California, twelve chapters across the U.S., and India operations headquartered in Delhi NCR, AIF is transforming lives across 26 statesof India while addressing these issues on a regional, country, and international scale.

In a routine village visit, worker Sharmila and Adolescent Community Health Facilitator (ACHF) Preeti encountered a pr...
18/05/2026

In a routine village visit, worker Sharmila and Adolescent Community Health Facilitator (ACHF) Preeti encountered a pregnancy that could have easily slipped through the system. A previous stillbirth, delayed antenatal care, severe anaemia, and a family hesitant about institutional delivery placed Asma (name changed) in a high-risk category from the outset.
In rural India, access to care is only one part of the equation. Awareness, household decision-making, and timely action often determine whether risk is managed or missed. NFHS-5 data shows that fewer than half of rural women receive adequate antenatal care, leaving many pregnancies without consistent monitoring.
In Asma’s case, early identification made intervention possible.
She was immediately brought into the care continuum: registered for antenatal services, initiated on anaemia treatment, and supported through regular home visits. Nutrition counselling and birth preparedness were reinforced over time. More critically, Sharmila and Preeti worked with the family to address hesitation, building trust in institutional care and enabling informed decisions.
Over the course of the pregnancy, these efforts converged. Clinical risks were managed, adherence improved, and the family’s stance shifted from uncertainty to readiness.
Asma delivered a healthy baby girl at the Government Hospital in Manglaur through a safe institutional delivery, an outcome built on early detection, sustained follow-up, and alignment within the household.
Through , AIF continues to strengthen last-mile health systems by enabling frontline workers to identify risk early, maintain continuity of care, and translate access into outcomes. To date, the program has reached over 438,000 pregnant women.

At the STEMpowering Annual Shareout in Bulandshahr, students presented working prototypes that applied classroom concept...
12/05/2026

At the STEMpowering Annual Shareout in Bulandshahr, students presented working prototypes that applied classroom concepts to real-world problems. Across four government schools, 36 students built solutions that ranged from basic sensor-based safety devices to automation systems and early-stage monitoring tools, each designed to respond to challenges they encounter in their immediate environments.

These projects reflected a level of engagement that is still not common in many government classrooms, where STEM learning is largely delivered through theory. The ability to move from concept to application, to test, refine, and present a working model, points to a different way of learning taking hold.

The event brought together district administration, including Mr Manish Kumar, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Dibai, and Mr Ravinder Singh, Nodal Education Officer, alongside educators and Covestro leadership. Their presence reflected a growing recognition that strengthening STEM learning requires coordination across government, schools, and private sector partners.

“Limited facilities in many government schools make initiatives like STEMpowering essential,” noted the SDM, pointing to the structural constraints that continue to shape classroom learning.

Through its partnership with Covestro India Private Limited, AIF’s Digital Equalizer program is being implemented across 25 government schools. The program focuses on integrating technology with pedagogy, equipping teachers with tools to deliver applied learning, and enabling students to engage with scientific concepts through experimentation and problem-solving. Mr Arvind Kumar, Head (Site Service), Covestro (India) Pvt. Ltd., shared at the event, "Every student is talented and capable. When given the right resources, they can truly excel. Use these opportunities wisely and strive for excellence, regardless of circumstances, as it will shape your future and career."

As India works toward strengthening its future workforce, the ability to build, test, and apply knowledge at the school level will become increasingly important. Platforms like STEMpowering demonstrate how these capabilities can begin to take shape early, within classrooms that are designed not only to teach concepts, but to put them to use.

has long tracked India’s progress in building advanced systems. The 2026 theme, “Responsible Innovation for Inclusive ...
11/05/2026

has long tracked India’s progress in building advanced systems. The 2026 theme, “Responsible Innovation for Inclusive Growth,” shifts the focus to distribution, who builds, who benefits, and how early capability is developed.

At Arignar Anna Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Poonamallee, that question is being addressed at the level where technical ability is first formed.

Through the Digital Equalizer Program, supported by Ericsson India’s
long-term commitment to strengthening public education systems, STEM instruction is restructured around application. Concepts in electricity, circuitry, and automation are taught through lab-based modules, where students design, assemble, and test working systems. Teachers anchor lessons in problem statements, guide students through iterative builds, and use toolkits that integrate sensors, microcontrollers, and basic programming logic into everyday classroom practice.

This approach was visible at the ELECTRO 3.0 Project Expo at
Three Grade 8 students developed a Smart EB Line Wire Break Alert System and an Automated Railway Gate System, both grounded in real infrastructure risks. The models drew on circuit design, signal transmission, and control mechanisms to simulate how failure detection and automated response systems operate in live environments.

They placed third. The outcome reflects the underlying shift is the ability to move from conceptual understanding to system design and ex*****on within a school environment.

Responsible innovation is often framed at the level of policy and industry. Its foundation is built earlier, in whether students have access to structured experimentation, technical tools, and teachers equipped to guide applied learning.
The program now operates across 50 government schools, reaching 15,000 students and 250 teachers. Its focus is consistent: embed applied STEM learning into classroom systems so that technical capability is developed early, reinforced through practice, and made accessible at scale.

Inclusive innovation depends on who is prepared to build, and that preparation begins here.
Ericsson

For many students in government schools, STEM learning remains confined to textbooks, with limited opportunity to test i...
30/04/2026

For many students in government schools, STEM learning remains confined to textbooks, with limited opportunity to test ideas or build with their hands. The shift from understanding concepts to applying them is where confidence is formed, and where interest in future pathways begins to take shape.

In , this shift was visible at a student-led STEM exhibition, where 50 students from six partner schools presented working prototypes developed over the course of their learning journey. The room carried a different kind of energy. Students were not reciting answers; they were explaining processes, defending design choices, and engaging directly with questions on how their models worked and where they could be improved. What stood out was not just technical ability, but the ease with which students took ownership of their ideas.

Dr Suresh Malakondaiah, Assistant Professor of Entomology at Bharath University, joined as a special judge. His interactions with students were rigorous and constructive, pushing them to think beyond immediate outputs and consider how their ideas could translate into real-world applications. The exchange reflected a level of engagement that classrooms rarely have the space to enable.

This is the direction AIF’s work with has been building toward. Since 2019, the partnership has focused on strengthening how STEM is taught and experienced across schools in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Classrooms have been equipped with enabling infrastructure, teachers supported to adopt more interactive approaches, and students given consistent exposure to hands-on learning through STEM labs and innovation centres.

The result is not a one-day showcase, but a gradual shift in how students relate to learning itself. The exhibition in Chennai offered a clear view of that change in motion.

Extreme Networks

1,001 students participating in the annual intra-school competition across 45 government schools in Kurukshetra and Jhaj...
28/04/2026

1,001 students participating in the annual intra-school competition across 45 government schools in Kurukshetra and Jhajjar district brought an impressive array of projects.

All the students participating in the program belong to low-resourced government schools. With limited exposure to STEM infrastructure and hands-on learning, their learning remains restricted to theoretical learning.

Supported by Ericsson India, this gap began to close. Through exposure visits to the centralized Integrated Learning Centre (SILC), where they experienced hands-on learning and sustained mentorship by STEM trainers and Cluster Coordinators. This support transformed their learning beyond theoretical understanding. Building on this foundation, students developed and presented 199 working models, addressing real-world challenges—from water management and road safety to smart irrigation, earthquake alert systems, and automated solutions.

What makes this activity particularly compelling is that the context is students with historically limited access to STEM resources demonstrated not just participation, but applied innovation and problem-solving at scale.

The Annual Shareout thus validates how equitable access to infrastructure, combined with structured mentorship, can unlock creativity, strengthen techno-pedagogy, and accelerate progress toward inclusive STEM education.

23/04/2026

The pipeline into technology careers does not fail at the point of hiring. It narrows much earlier.

Across India, girls enter school with comparable aptitude in STEM, yet their participation declines as learning becomes more abstract, exposure remains limited, and confidence is unevenly built. By the time careers come into view, the gap is already structural. In AI-related fields, women account for less than a third of the talent pool.

For nearly a decade, and AIF have worked together to address this broader disconnect between access and opportunity. Through , the partnership has strengthened workforce readiness among underserved youth, women, and persons with disabilities, enabling pathways into technology-enabled livelihoods.

What this work made clear is that the pipeline cannot be corrected at the point of entry alone. It must be strengthened at its source.

was built with that intent.

Across 39 government schools in , , and , the program reaches over 12,000 students. More than 200 teachers have been trained in techno-pedagogy, with an additional 700+ reached through district systems. Classrooms are shifting toward application-led learning through STEM clubs, bootcamps, and competitions that build problem-solving, collaboration, and digital fluency; capabilities that shape long-term participation in ICT and AI pathways.

Karina’s journey sits within this shift. Her engagement with technology has moved beyond familiarity to intent and ownership, a transition that often determines whether girls sustain participation in STEM fields or disengage.

As AI systems begin to shape decision-making across sectors, who builds and trains them will determine how they function and whom they serve. This International Girls in ICT Day, under the theme “AI for Development: Girls shaping the digital future,” places that question at the center.

EXL’s partnership has been defined by consistency and a long-term view, linking livelihoods to education, and education to the future of work in a single continuum. That alignment has enabled interventions that hold at scale and over time. Thank you, !

23/04/2026

part 11

23/04/2026

part 10

23/04/2026

part 9

23/04/2026

part 8

23/04/2026

part 7

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