ABLE, AIF’s flagship livelihood program, helps create an ecosystem for the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) as an active workforce in the job market, thus promoting inclusive growth in India.
There are 26.8 million Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in India. 36% of the PwDs are employable but they, especially women, face enormous physical, attitudinal, and informational barriers to equal opportunities at work. They experience higher rates of unemployment, economic inactivity, and insufficient social protection which is key to reducing extreme poverty.
The ABLE program aims to create pathways that:
Working to empower India’s differently-abled, ABLE builds skill sets and facilitates access to employment, while also promoting acceptance of disabilities in the larger community.
ABLE also helps advance the discourse on disability inclusion by bringing together the key stakeholders-- Governments, National Institutes for Empowerment of PwDs, NGOs, and the private sector—and informing, influencing, and engaging with them.
Built on an ambitious goal of doubling the number of PwDs in India’s formal sector by 2030, ABLE aims to strategically enable the ecosystem to:
Facilitation through India’s first accessible e-marketplace dedicated to jobs for PwDs – Onboard at least 1,000 corporates/PSUs from the government and private sectors (including MNCs) to the platform to make jobs accessible for PwDs.
Alliance in action - Proactively organize seminars and workshops to sensitize employers on the abilities of PwDs and make workplaces accessible as well as demonstrate the business case of employing a person with a disability.
Technology for accessibility and skilling – Leveraging technology to develop a Learning and Management System (LMS) with digitally accessible content compliant with ‘Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)’ to create a platform that allows PwDs to actively participate in the training process thereby having a positive impact on their learning outcomes.
Employment that’s sustainable with a strong focus on placement retention – ABLE aims to enable employment of 100,000 PwDs over the next 10 years by providing the skills set required to them eligible for dignified employment; making employment accessible to match their newly gained skills; and providing continued support along with upskilling to help them flourish in their employment journey.
Engage to Empower is a long-term career support intervention focused on upgrading, upskilling, and facilitating dignified job opportunities that aim to rebuild the lives of women, Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), and youth from marginalized communities, disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Through the intervention, AIF’s Market Aligned Skills Training (MAST) Program in partnership with Bank of America, is facilitating co-learning and knowledge sharing for focused self-development and career planning with post-placement support for 3.5 years. Designed to deliver volunteer training and mentoring by the Bank of America employees in Full Stack Development, Data Analytics, Banking, Financial Services, Insurance (BFSI), and other upcoming sectors, it aims to nurture professional development, workplace readiness, and cultural transition for the identified vulnerable groups.
Engage To Empower project is a collaboration between BlackRock and American India Foundation. The Project engages the employee volunteers as equal participants in creating a career pathway, through skill enhancement and job access, for marginalized youth, especially females and persons with disabilities. The Engage to Empower project recommends a long-term intervention in an aspirant’s career to ensure meaningful progression over the years. The recruited candidates undergo 3.5 years of skilling, mentoring, and training support in technical, behavioral, and professional areas. Another highlight of this pathway is the volunteering engagement of BlackRock practitioners and experienced professionals as trainers, mentors, and influencers throughout the program. It helps in making the aspirants confident and connected with the chosen area of specialization and also aligns their vision with industry leaders.
Helping vulnerable women “Thrive and Not Just Survive in the Professional Environment,” AIF’s intervention- "Developing Leadership and Employment Readiness for Women with Disabilities," supported by the Circle of Hope aims to empower women with disabilities who are facing barriers to employment. The Project, over a period of 6 months, will provide employment readiness training, certified by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in communications and leadership, along with entrepreneurial, financial, technological, and domain-specific skills, followed by a 45-day paid internship with AIF, to graduate women with disabilities who are facing barriers to employment.
American India Foundation in Partnership with Dell Technologies is implementing a Future Workspace Skills project that aims to build workforce readiness in college-going girls and persons with disabilities. The Project, designed to catalyze a technology-enabled, inclusive, and adaptive skilling ecosystem, aims to sustain remote job creation, linking the targeted beneficiaries with aspirational jobs in technology, banking, and travel; facilitating their transition, and acclimatizing them to the newly acquired remote jobs through the innovative Remote Employment (REMO) Centers. The training curriculum, certified by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and DELL Tech., offers an exclusive curriculum created by subject experts and industry mentors on subjects such as communication skills, life skills, corporate grooming and etiquette, MS Office, workplace readiness, resume writing, and interview preparedness through a cutting-edge technology enabled Learning Management System (LMS).
AIF in partnership with Extreme Networks is building capacities of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) to access dignified livelihoods and employment/self-employment opportunities across Chennai, Kancheepuram (Chennai), Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Bengaluru (Karnataka). As part of this vision, the collaboration aims to create infrastructure for classrooms and practical lab setups for upcoming (PwDs) and youth.
Aimed at creating an independent cadre of trained caregivers, the Geriatric Care Aide project supported by Franklin Templeton is meeting the growing demands of the country’s healthcare system to bridge the gap between caregivers and the elderly population. Aimed at creating an independent cadre of trained caregivers, the Geriatric Care Aide project supported by Franklin Templeton has so far trained more than 240 youths from marginalized communities, providing them access to sustainable livelihoods. The project was also awarded the Gold Award for its outstanding performance in the Health Skilling Brand Category at the IHW awards 2020. Geriatric Care Aide is being implemented by AIF under its flagship Market Aligned Skills Training (MAST) Program that works to provide unemployed youth with comprehensive skills training to address India’s growing need for skilled manpower.
While the overall objective of the program is to create a career pathway for 100,000 PwDs Pan India, over the ten years, the program is gradually achieving the scale, we will be creating career pathways for 8,000 persons in 3 years starting Dec 2021. To achieve this milestone, several small milestones will be set up to keep a check on project progress in the right direction. The E-marketplace will be made functional to bring job seekers and givers to a single platform. A minimum of 500 organizations which would include PSUs / corporates will be onboard to share relevant job openings. Organizations will be invited to bring awareness to PwDs' job policies by the government.
Project SAMEIP is a collaborative initiative of the SBI Foundation and Microsoft India to enable career pathways for underserved young Persons with Disabilities in the digitally transformed Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector in India. SAMEIP, is steered by AIF’s Livelihoods Program, along with TeamLease Skills University, v-shesh, and WinVinaya Foundation across Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. Through this initiative, the project would address the stigma associated with hiring people with disabilities and sensitize employers to leverage the talent of these individuals to become productive assets of society and trailblazers in their respective communities.
AIF’s Center of Excellence, located at the Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Rewari, is paving the way for youth, women, and persons with disabilities from marginalized communities to access skilling, upskilling, and mentoring, along with placement and employment opportunities in the sectors of IT, electricals and electronics, logistics, data entry, and data management. Through the Center of Excellence, AIF, in partnership with government ITI, Rewari, and with the support of Sarva Mangal Family Trust (MSI), over a course of three years, aims to train 1,200 beneficiaries and link 1,125 with sustainable livelihoods and also enable 75 entrepreneurs to set up their own businesses.
Project SAMEIP is a collaborative initiative of the SBI Foundation and Microsoft India to enable career pathways for underserved young Persons with Disabilities in the digitally transformed Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector in India. SAMEIP, is steered by AIF’s Livelihoods Program, along with TeamLease Skills University, v-shesh, and WinVinaya Foundation across Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. Through this initiative, the project would address the stigma associated with hiring people with disabilities and sensitize employers to leverage the talent of these individuals to become productive assets of society and trailblazers in their respective communities.
Project SAMEIP is a collaborative initiative of the SBI Foundation and Microsoft India to enable career pathways for underserved young Persons with Disabilities in the digitally transformed Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector in India. SAMEIP, is steered by AIF’s Livelihoods Program, along with TeamLease Skills University, v-shesh, and WinVinaya Foundation across Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.
Project SAMEIP is a collaborative initiative of the SBI Foundation and Microsoft India to enable career pathways for underserved young Persons with Disabilities in the digitally transformed Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector in India. SAMEIP, is steered by AIF’s Livelihoods Program, along with TeamLease Skills University, v-shesh, and WinVinaya Foundation across Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.
Project SAMEIP is a collaborative initiative of the SBI Foundation and Microsoft India to enable career pathways for underserved young Persons with Disabilities in the digitally transformed Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector in India. SAMEIP, is steered by AIF’s Livelihoods Program, along with TeamLease Skills University, v-shesh, and WinVinaya Foundation across Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.
Kamesh Sanghi is Director of the Livelihoods team. He holds a M.B.A from Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi. Prior to joining AIF in 2019, he has worked for P.A.J Skill Development Centre
Salil has more than 23 years of experience in Education and Training Industry. He holds post Graduate Certification in Business Management from Jaipuria Institute of Management. Having worked with companies like NIIT Ltd, FIITJEE Ltd, Sikkim Manipal group, NIS Sparta Ltd, GRAS Education, Quess Corp Ltd and BYST-CII, he has rich experience in Sales, Marketing, Strategic planning, Partner Management, Channel Operations, P&L management, Industry Collaboration and Program Delivery operations. During the last 7 years, he has spearheaded various skill development projects under state, central government, CSR and NSDC linked initiatives. He has handled various Regional, National and Leadership Roles during his professional journey across verticals like IT education, Test-Prep, Management, Distance Education, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood linked Skill Development domain.
Prior to joining AIF, he was working with Bal Bharti Group as Chief Operating Officer handling government and CSR business verticals.
Bhupendra holds the responsibility of supporting the livelihood operations team in all aspects of planning, strategies, finance and budgeting, documentation and reporting, and operations in coordination with Program Managers and Project Leads. He also supports the Head of Operations in monitoring all livelihood programs and conducting monthly reviews. Bhupendra holds an Engineering degree from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) Bhopal. He has been working in the sector for 8 years in various capacities with organizations like Letz Dream foundation, ACCESS Development Services, The/Nudge Foundation. He has worked primarily on rural livelihoods promotion. He has worked deeply in the government system while working in Rajasthan State Rural Livelihood Mission and as a CM Fellow in Madhya Pradesh.
Bandana joined AIF in October, 2021 with 23 plus years of experience in managing social enterprises, service, education, training and consulting projects. She manages the projects for supporting women, PwD and marginalized youth with aspirational and innovative skillsets and sustainable livelihood opportunities. She defines growth as accepting and overcoming challenges in personal and professional space. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management with a specialization in Marketing from Symbiosis, Pune.
Ganesh Newarkar is Program Manager-Livelihood West Zone at AIF’s India country office in Gurgaon. He is an Engineering Graduate from Premium Institute Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (V.J.T.I.) Mumbai and holds a Postgraduate degree in Marketing Management from Pune University. He has more than 13 years of work experience in the Education and Skill Development sector. Prior to joining AIF in 2021, Ganesh has worked with organizations like Quess Corp Ltd in PMKK Govt Skill Development Project, FICCI-Rural development project with Maharashtra State Govt, Labournet services Pvt ltd, NIIT Ltd.
Renuka Bhagat is Program Officer, Ability Based Livelihood Empowerment (ABLE) program in the Livelihoods Team. She holds an MBA- International Business. Prior to joining AIF in July 2015, she has worked with ASTHA (Alternate Strategies for The Handicapped), Vee Em Infotech (An international BPO) and Career Launchers.
An operations, business, MarTech specialist, and a leader with over 14 years of established career, she co-founded a boot-strapped EdTech, and worked for the British Council as Head of Operations.
Soumen is a multifaceted professional with over 18 years of corporate and development sector experience. He bears hands-on expertise in sales & operations, networking & liaison, financial management, program management, multi-stakeholder administration and training & development. Having worked with some of the most prestigious organizations such as ICICI Foundation, Dr. Reddy's Foundation & ICA; he brings strong domain knowledge of Livelihoods & Skill Development, business development, mobilization, relationship management and industry interaction. Equipped with an MBA(Operations) degree he bears unique skills in awareness generation, partnership engagement and capacity building. He comes across as an individual who is highly passionate about issues pertinent to youth, women empowerment and employability, in general.
I am a Project Coordinator in Livelihood North at AIF's India Country office in Gurgaon, I have 13+ years of experience in the education industry - IT Education Business and Skills Education. Prior to joining AIF in 2021, I worked with NIIT Ltd for 8 years and 5.5 years with Quess Corp Ltd.
Committed and passionate development professional with profound experience in ideating, implementing and managing programmes on skills to livelihood, awareness for social & behaviour change, climate change and WASH. Masters in Development Communications from Mass Communication Reserach Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. Mariyam has experience in working with multiple stakeholders; grassroots communities, educational institutions, development practitioners, Govt. & private entities.
Shradha is working as a Project Coordinator for the Blackrock Engage to Empower Livelihood in AIF since October 2021. I bring over 4+ years of rich experience including recent experience at AIF as Project Coordinator, 3 years as Assistant Manager Operations in Skills Mantra, and over 1 year as Deputy Manager-I at ICICI Bank. I have done my master's from NMIMS and Bachelor's in Technology from GBTU.
With an experience of 11 years in the non-profit organization management industry, he has worked as Senior Manager Corporate Relations for CII Skilled and Manager Corporate Sales at LNJ Bhilwara Group.
Rajvinder Kaur is a Program Officer to Program Director - Livelihoods. She holds an MBA and joined AIF in 2013. She is a professional with extensive experience in Skill Development and Employment and have thematic expertise in Livelihoods, Entrepreneurship Development and Disability rights and Inclusion.
Vikhyaathi Shah has an overall experience of 6 Years in Core HR, and handling large teams and coordinating with top Management. She has worked with TOP MNC companies like Genpact, Value Labs, 3-I InfoTech, Co –Options Technology. Currently she is working as a Program Executive with Livelihoods Team.
I, Shreya Kuruvilla am a development sector professional with over 7 years of experience working in various domains of social impact. I have completed my Master’s in Sustainable development from TERI University and my bachelor’s in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. My stint in the development sector included learning and working arduously in the field of social impact across various domains, including CSR, NGO, and INGOs such as Capgemini, HCL, and TechnoServe. I have worked in the field of social impact in varied capacities and am currently a Project Manager for the SAMEIP program at American India Foundation.
Amit Sharma is the Centre Manager for the Centre of Excellence in Noida and Senior Video Editor managing the post-production of accessible content at AIF's in-house studio. He has 18+ years of experience in supervising the production and editing of documentaries, feature films, news, corporate videos, fashion videos, and advertisements. He has worked for prominent brands like UNDP, UNIDO, BEE, UNI, Doordarshan, ASSOCHAM, Action Against Hunger, Room to Read India Trust, Kiran Nadar Museum.
Sohan Moriya is a social sector specialist who has 12 Years of significant experience as a social activist, as a professional is abysmally involved in the up-liftment of society in a social domain for the skilling, capacity-building, Implementation, Monitoring, Management, and Placement.
I am working as a mobilizer cum counsellor for Blackrock Engage to Empower livelihood in AIF since October 2021. I bring over 3 years of experience including a year of experience at AIF, 2 years of experience as a project Coordinator with ActionAid Association. I have done my masters in Conflict analysis and peace building studies from Jamia Milia Islamia and Bachelors in social work from Amity University, Noida.
Amaldev is working as a Sign Language trainer and creating accessible content along with sign language courses for corporates at AIF. He has more than 4 years of experience as a content creator and translator, He has handled exclusive Projects and has worked as an Executive Project Associate. He has trained multiple Deaf people to become empowered and learn leadership skills.
31 year-old GB Karthik from Chennai was not born with a disability. An accident at the age of 11 left him with locomotor disability, impacting his ability to walk. While the accident changed the course of his life and presented unrelenting challenges, it could not stop the confident and optimistic Karthik.
Over 50 representatives from the corporate sector and skill development agencies participated in a round-table discussion organized by the American India Foundation (AIF) and National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP).
Over 50 representatives from the corporate sector participated at an employer engagement seminar organized by the American India Foundation (AIF) and Cheshire Disability Trust (CDT).
The enthusiasm and energy of thousands gathered to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities filled India Gate with color, music, dance performances and engaging debate.
Hero MotoCorp felicitated AIF with the “Partners Excellence Award” during their Annual Partners Meet on May 9, 2019. Mr. Vijay Sethi, CIO Head HR & CSR at Hero Motocorp presented the award to AIF representatives, Niresh Kumar and Manish Kumar.
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