LGT Venture Philanthropy (LGT VP) is proud to renew its long-standing partnership with Educate Girls, a leading non-profit working to transform educational opportunities for girls and young women in India’s most underserved regions. This next phase of collaboration will support the launch of Strategy 3.0, a 10-year vision to provide over 10 million learners with access to education and lifelong learning pathways.
Since the beginning of their partnership in 2011, LGT VP has played a pivotal role in Educate Girls’ evolution - from supporting early-stage experimentation with data and technology to helping the organisation grow into a globally recognised leader in girls’ education. This next phase of support focuses on strengthening Educate Girls’ internal capabilities, expanding their second-chance education program for adolescent girls & young women, enhancing technology and performance systems, and securing long-term financial sustainability.
Educate Girls operates at the intersection of grassroots delivery, government alignment, and digital innovation. Active in more than 30,000 villages across four Indian states, the organisation partners with local communities and leverages government school infrastructure to bring out-of-school girls back into classrooms and improve foundational learning and numeracy for children aged 6–14 through its flagship ‘Back to School: Vidya’ program.
In response to the growing challenge of adolescent girls who are permanently excluded from formal education, Educate Girls has launched “Pragati” - a second-chance program aimed at adolescent girls and young women aged 15–29 who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Through partnerships with state governments for open schooling, Pragati creates a continuum of support to enable these learners to return to education, gain essential academic and life skills, and access future life opportunities. Pragati has already reached tens of thousands of girls, helping many re-enrol in academic pathways and complete their secondary education through the government-run state open schooling system.
The renewed collaboration with LGT VP will support critical areas of Educate Girls’ Strategy 3.0, including the development of advanced technology tools to support both programs, investment in leadership and resource mobilization, and the creation of rigorous impact evidence for scaling the second-chance program. These initiatives aim to deepen Educate Girls’ role in systems change by enabling the integration of its innovations into government frameworks. With this renewed commitment, LGT VP and Educate Girls are well-positioned to scale effective, inclusive, and resilient education solutions that can unlock the potential of millions of girls across India.
Marcia Parada, Investment Director at LGT VP, remarked: “Educate Girls is building a transformative education pathway for girls and young women — from foundational learning in early childhood to re-engaging those who have missed out on school. We’re excited to deepen this partnership as Educate Girls collaborates with governments to scale these models and open up greater opportunities for millions across India.”
Gayatri Nair Lobo, CEO at Educate Girls, added: “LGT Venture Philanthropy has stood by Educate Girls for over a decade, championing our journey from grassroots pilots to a national movement for girls’ education. As we aim to reach 10 million learners over the next 10 years, their renewed support will help us strengthen core systems, build robust data-driven evidence, drive innovation, and embed our most effective practices into public systems. Together, we’re scaling access and opportunity towards a future where every girl has the chance she deserves.”
Educate Girls is a non-profit that collaborates with state governments and mobilises village communities for girls’ education in India’s rural and educationally underserved areas in alignment with the Right to Education Act, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, and the National Education Policy. Since 2007, in partnership with state governments, Educate Girls has mobilised over 20 lakh girls for school enrolment in over 30,000 villages of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. www.EducateGirls.ngo
LGT Venture Philanthropy (LGT VP) is an independent charitable foundation established in 2007 with teams in Switzerland, Sub-Saharan Africa, and India. The foundation strives to improve the quality of life of people facing disadvantages, contribute to healthy ecosystems, and build resilient, inclusive, and prosperous communities. LGT VP focuses on strengthening the capabilities of locally rooted organisations that deliver effective, scalable solutions across health, education, and the environment, contributing directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For more information, please visit www.lgtvp.com.
Read the full press release here.