Avtar presents Scholarships to Girl Students to pursue tertiary education in STEM, Arts & Commerce

Hyderabad, May 23, 2023: Avtar Human Capital Trust (AHCT), the non-profit arm of Avtar Group, India’s premier Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Solutions firm, gave away scholarships to girl children who were part of Project Puthri, a programme to build Career Intentionality amongst girls studying in Corporation and Government aided schools in Tamil Nadu.

The scholarships worth Rs 2 lakhs were awarded to the girls by Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group and Managing Trustee of AHCT in the presence of the Australian Ambassador for Gender Equality, Ms. Stephanie Copus Campbell AM and Australia’s Consul General to South India, Ms. Sarah Kirlew at the Avtar office premises. These Puthri scholars are pursuing education in STEM, Arts and Commerce at various colleges in and around Chennai.

The girls who received scholarships have undergone training as part of Project Puthri, which is India’s first ever developmental project that seeks to create Career Intentionality among underprivileged girl students. These young girls were trained in 40 different skills that will enable them to build intentional careers post their tertiary education.

From the time of its launch five years ago by Avtar Human Capital Trust, Project Puthri has changed the destinies of over 11,000 girls studying in Government and Corporation Schools in Puducherry and 10 districts of Tamil Nadu. Project Puthri volunteers have clocked more than 64,500 hours in 10 different regions delivering over 8500 sessions in 100 schools.

 “155 girl children have benefitted from the scholarships so far, and we aim to support education of 250 girl students across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and help them build sustainable careers for themselves. As India prepares to be a $5 trillion economy, it is important that girl children get the best of education, career guidance and mentoring. These young girls will form the workforce for tomorrow leading India to a developed economy”, said Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Managing Trustee, AHCT, Founder – President of Avtar Group.

Speaking at the event, the Australian Ambassador for Gender Equality Ms Stephanie Copus Campbell AM said, “I want to congratulate the scholarship winners for all their hard work and efforts. I have spent my entire career, over 30 years, fighting for gender equality. My current role as Ambassador is to work internationally to promote gender equality, and to share with and learn from the countries that I visit. Every single person should have the opportunity to realize their full potential, regardless of their gender. Without gender equality, we will not have peace, security, or socio-economic development. Investing in women and girls is powerful. When a woman is educated, her children are more likely to be healthy, educated, and secure. When women have opportunities to participate in the economy and earn, they can add billions to GDP. I was delighted to see the student’s receiving scholarships. I am excited about a positive future for each and every one of them.”

About Avtar Human Capital Trust:

Avtar Human Capital Trust (AHCT) is a not-for-profit public charitable organization, working in the field of economic empowerment of women and creating change in their lives that are positive, holistic, and sustainable. Headquartered in Chennai, AHCT has been addressing gender equality, poverty eradication, employability workshops for underprivileged women, and inclusive economic growth for women across the State of Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry. AHCT has also been championing the cause of negotiating a better future though life skills for the girl child. In 2016, AHCT conducted a research study to understand what made over 480 corporation schoolgirl students (over the years 1992-2010) break out of poverty and pursue white collar jobs today.

About Avtar

Avtar, set up in 2000, is India’s first diversity advocate & workplace inclusion expert. Renowned for its extensive work in the space of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and more specifically, women’s workforce participation, Avtar is the country’s largest provider of second career opportunities for women and is also the earliest to begin working on diversity audits and measurement. Lead by the visionary Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Avtar Group, has ventured into areas of gender inclusion and career creation, which are firsts to India.

• Creating platforms for second career women to meet potential employers,
• Developing a comprehensive set of career enablers which companies can implement in their workspaces
• Spearheading original research that has provided cutting edge insights to organizations
• Creating India’s first diversity hiring portal myavtar.com for women, LGBTQ, PWD, Veterans and Silver Generation
• Re-Skilling, Up-skilling and Counselling of women to pursue sustainable career paths and
• Building career intentionality amongst under privileged girl children.

Avtar Group, a Stanford Seed certified company, has built its DEI offerings under four EDs, which ensures that every organization can have a clear path towards moving forward, building and sustaining diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces. The Four EDs – Enrich Diversity, Embed Diversity, Enable Diversity and Experience Diversity are constructed along four key implementation dimensions of Diversity – for Audits & Advisory support, Recruitment Programs, Workshops and Training Programs and Conferences and Events, respectively. For its transformational impact in the realm of DEI, Avtar Group was listed in the prestigious Steward Leadership 25 Listing by Strait Times & INSEAD at Singapore in 2022.

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