We believe in the evolutionary extraordinary
power of education
We believe in leveraging the transformative power of education to empower individuals and reshape societal systems. Our goal is to create a meaningful impact that fosters a more equitable and inclusive world.
Education is the only Transformative Power
Having experienced the paradigmatic shifts that education brought to their own lives, both Kumari Shibulal and S. D. Shibulal have been passionate advocates of its transformative powers. It is, therefore, not entirely surprising that they decided to start and sustain their philanthropic journey in the field of education, expanding its scope and scale over the past 25 years.
Individual Empowerment
Individual Empowerment plays a pivotal role in all education initiatives under SFPI. The founders are ardent believers of individual empowerment as it is not only a personal journey but also a collective force that shapes the fabric of societies and influences the trajectory of human progress.
Systemic Transformation
Systemic transformation is not merely about isolated changes; it is a strategic and intentional process that shapes the core structure of societies, organisations, and institutions. Its importance lies in its capacity to create positive, enduring, and adaptive change that aligns with the evolving needs of the world.
Our Programs
Accessibility • Affordability • Awareness
Initiatives under this cause encompass primary education equipping underserved school children with knowledge and skills, higher education scholarships and mentorship programs, skilling and career-building programs in hospitality, facilitating system-wide improvements in education through collaboration with stakeholders, developing scalable educational technologies, and empowering school leaders and social startups in the education sector.
Vidyadhan
Vidyadhan was established in 1999 as a scholarship program that provides funding, mentoring and life skills training to meritorious students from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue higher education. Vidyadhan launched a technology platform in 2015 to facilitate public sponsorship. Through the “Each One Teach One” drive, Vidyadhan invited corporates and individuals for partnerships to scale the program.
Ankur
Founded in 2004, Ankur is dedicated to providing equal educational opportunities to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The program aims to break the cycle of poverty, failure, and dropout by creating a positive environment of care, attention, encouragement, and support. Its holistic education focuses on the overall development of children, restoring their human dignity and equipping them to secure fulfilling roles in both their professional and social lives.
Ankur admits children of upper primary age based on a three-point criteria. The program takes full responsibility for their physical, emotional, and educational needs. These children attend The Samhita Academy, a socially inclusive school, operated under the auspices of SFPI, which offers quality education to both Ankur children and students from economically privileged backgrounds.
SAATHIYA
Launched in the year 2019, Saathiya endeavours to fulfil the aspirations of youth from economically weaker sections of society, who wish to make a career in Hospitality Operations. SAATHIYA – The Skilling Academy, offers Integrated Career Development Program (ICDP) for young adults providing skill training in Hotel Management, specifically in Food & Beverage Services and Housekeeping Operations. Operating in partnership with Tamara Leisure Experiences, Saathiya also provides short-term training for entry-level roles as Guest Service Associates in F&B Service and Housekeeping Operations. Upon successful completion of training, students receive industry-recognized certifications and ongoing support. SAATHIYA supports its students for 5 years to help build a growing career and gives them lifetime free membership to SAATHIYA Digital Network.
ShikshaLokam
Founded in 2017, ShikshaLokam is driven by the mission to enable and amplify leadership development opportunities for individuals and institutions within K-12 education systems. ShikshaLokam also co-creates different solutions with Government Functionaries, Civil Society Organizations and Academic Bodies to address the education leadership challenges. The organisation works towards distributing the ability to solve the gaps that exist in education leadership space and improving the agency of actors in the ecosystem to drive large scale educational change programs.
Working extensively with the Ministry of Education, Government of India, state departments and innumerable non-profits, ShikshaLokam has enabled leadership development across 30 percent public schools across the country. Currently its work impacts over 5.7L+ education leaders resulting in enriching learning experiences across classrooms.
The Samhita Academy
Established in Bangalore in 2009, The Samhita Academy has touched the lives of more than 3000 children, equipping them to prepare for the University of Life. Today, The Samhita Academy has spread its wings with schools in Bangalore and Coimbatore. Staying faithful to its core belief of ‘Empowerment through Education’, 25% of Samhita children come from the underprivileged sections of society. The school integrates the ‘Ankur’ scholarship students along with their more privileged peers and helps prepare them for its rigorous CBSE curriculum.
EduMentum
Founded in 2017, Edumentum is driven by the vision of empowering young and local change leaders who possess an intimate understanding of their unique contexts to pioneer local innovations and equip them to tackle the diverse, yet urgent problem of education inequality in India. Through its incubation program, Edumentum has so far enabled 51 grassroot organisations across 23 states to lead successful systemic education transformation in their geographies, impacting over 25,000 schools and 12,75,000 children.
EduMentum X – the collective for Exponential Change is aimed at strengthening the narrative of Education Leadership in the Indian context and nurturing a self sustaining ecosystem for scale-ready organisations.
EduMentum R – the Rural and tribal initiative focuses on building a robust foundation of growth for organisations from rural and tribal geographies thereby contributing to improved visibility and funding for organisation in the rural space.
HariSree
Established in the year 2010, HariSree provides study materials like school bags, notebooks, pencils, drawing materials etc. to students who are from underserved sections of the society studying in government schools. The program started off with five schools in Muhamma, Panchayat, Alappuzha district and has since expanded to benefit students in over 20 schools.
SFPI Fellowship
Research in India is at a nascent stage and to encourage education with particular emphasis on research in sciences, SFPI established the SFPI Fellowship in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), a National Centre of the Government of India. The fellowship facilitates visits of graduate students and young researchers of TIFR to universities and institutions abroad for research and academic engagements It also supports visits of eminent scientists/technologists/mathematicians/scholars and researchers who are invited by TIFR to India to deliver public lectures and pursue collaborative research programs in cutting-edge fields.
