AIRD - WEP Programme

The Women's Education Project (WEP) is a non-profit organization incorporated in the state of New York and registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt non-profit under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3).

Programme Overview
Women's Education Project (WEP) is partnering with the Association for Integrated Rural Development (AIRD) to provide the Leadership Academy at the Madurai Centre and its Satellite Centre in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu. WEP's flagship Programme includes the Collaboration Lab, a training and resource centre, and the Leadership Academy, its core curriculum. Since 2002, WEP has served young women (ages 15 and up) in India. Pressured to leave school, marry early, and work for low wages, these women are often ill-equipped to overcome the debilitating issues of poverty. At WEP's Leadership Academy, young women become leaders, prepared to earn and make lasting changes in their own lives, families, and communities. The project aims to provide opportunities for young women from underprivileged families to participate in the activities of WEP's Leadership Academy at AIRD.

The Collaboration Lab
WEP's Collaboration Lab is a training and resource centre provided to its NGO partners to ensure that support staff and Academy Directors can lead the Leadership Academy within their communities. It offers four Programme elements:

  1. Incubator: For cohorts of community leaders to provide the Leadership Academy to young women within their communities.
  2. Consortium: A network of NGO partner staff and Academy Leaders to ensure ongoing support and continual feedback for Programme improvement.
  3. Online Resource Hub: Provides Academy Leaders, students, and alumnae with access to curriculum materials, toolkits for Programme delivery and impact assessment, and a resource database (people, places, and opportunities) to support Academy activities.
  4. Connects: A donor engagement platform supporting each academy's local sustainability.

The Leadership Academy
WEP's Leadership Academy is a holistic and experiential certificate Programme rooted in the belief that each young woman is born with an inherent spark. This spark ignites in a safe, peer-supportive, spirited environment where her self-belief, confidence, creativity, and talents flourish. Each Certificate Course includes thematic or skill-building workshops, guest sessions, site visits, and meetings with professionals. The Leadership Academy's experiential learning and participatory methods consciously promote joyful learning and adapt to each learner's specific needs.

Leadership Academy Programme Elements:

  1. Safe Space:
    • Creating a supportive community of friends and mentors
    • Provision of baseline essentials (potable water, nutritious supplements, and clean toilets)
    • Space for social-emotional activities
    • Academic support resources (computer lab and library)
  2. Certificate Curriculum:
    • Foundations: Leadership, women's health, mindfulness, rights, safety, budgeting, etc.
    • Skills: Communication (English and local language), academic, technology, and specialized skills
    • Exploration: Project-based field trips
    • Leading Change: Changemaker series
  3. Next Step:
    • Aptitude counselling and mentoring
    • Scholarships and micro-grants for further study, training, and entrepreneurship
  4. Alumnae Association:
    • Continued access and support, with introductions to opportunities

The Leadership Academy ensures that graduates have transcended immense social pressures to become self-reliant, informed, skilled leaders, certified and prepared to:

  1. Enter formal sector careers or entrepreneurial occupations of their choosing.
  2. Make lasting changes in their lives, families, and communities.
  3. Recognize and utilize their abilities.
  4. Become well-rounded, knowledgeable in health, nutrition, gender issues, civics, rights, and budgeting.
  5. Know themselves, their voice, confidence, curiosity, and ability to communicate.
  6. Make choices and advocate for positive changes in their own lives, families, and communities.
  7. Have a supportive community of friends and mentors.
  8. Access community resources and guide others to them.
  9. Make informed decisions about occupations of their choosing.
  10. Continue to develop these skills and assets throughout their lives.

The Programme is delivered through the Madurai Centre, which provides in-person and tech support, and the Satellite Programme in Ramanathapuram, which offers in-person and tech support within harder-to-reach communities.


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