“If you can’t pay it back, pay it forward.” This quote by Catherine Ryan Hyde encompasses the spirit and vision of Adhyan. The story of Adhyan is Priya’s story. As a child, she was always taught by her mother that helping people in need was an important part of the human experience. The quantum of help didn’t matter, she was told, what mattered was the thought and intention behind it.
Being led, run and fuelled by women, we at Adhyan, understand the unique challenges faced by women and children in India and around the world. From violence and systemic marginalisation, to the gender pay gap and lack of social infrastructure, women and children are impeded from reaching their potential at every turn.
At Adhyan, we believe that enabling women to be their own changemakers can change the world. As women rise, so do our children, our homes, and our communities. It is this salient belief that motivates our purpose.
How we fund -
Trust based Philanthropy
Adhyan does philanthropy differently by implementing a model called trust-based philanthropy. Using trust as a starting point, we want to be able to break down the traditional power dynamic between funder and grantee and create a collaborative environment that supports listening and learning. This means that we fund organizations at every level of their work from capacity-building and operational support to leadership and learning. We believe unrestricted, multi-year commitments allow organizations to be creative, adaptive and innovative. We don’t ask organizations to send us a number of verification documents, write time-consuming grant applications or send us detailed reports every quarter.
We have simplified and streamlined the paperwork required thereby reducing the administrative burden on our grantees and giving them more time to focus on their missions. We discuss what’s worked and what hasn’t over the years so we all work together to enable women and children to rise up from their circumstances.