Clients' Press Releases

Bangalore, June 04, 2008

Pravah to expand Change Looms - program for empowering social change agents

Change Looms program to build a unique network of young social change agents across India by 2010 The Global Fund For Children joins as partner to support the program

Pravah, a leading Delhi-based non profit organization that focuses on change through youth citizenship action, shared details of its flagship "Change Looms" program and its plans to build a pan Indian network of young social agents by 2010. Change Looms was incepted in 2005 to equip and mentor young social activist leaders and make them master weavers of social change. The program has since attracted over 250 applications from social change agents with 40 already successfully benefiting from the program and 18 currently under active mentoring. The highlight has been the sheer diversity of issues from child sexual abuse, tiger conservation, RTI to NREGA that the Change Loomers have addressed through their work. The Global Fund for Children (GFC), a global grant making organization that is active in India has stepped in to support Pravah's Change Looms program. GFC also announced on the occasion that it will support Change Loomers who fulfill its criteria adding further fillip to the program. Change Loomers - Ishita from Youth Parliament Foundation and Iyappan from Sri Arunodayam were at the press conference to share their experiences of the program and its' benefits.

According to Ishita, Founder, Youth Parliament Foundation,, "Learning and sharing is even more important for those in the social arena since we work within a very complex society with myriad social issues and conflicting interests. The Change Looms workshop and the inputs I later received acted as a motivation booster and made us more confident as social change agents. The decision making also improved and at the end we have better clarity on many aspects of our organizations and if today we have expanded our horizons, much of the credit would go to the program. I would like to thank Pravah for the opportunity and also GFC for the support." "Though good intention is the starting point to bring about a change in the society, for it to sustain and succeed, it has to be supplemented with learning, financial support and network. Change Looms as a platform aims to provide all of it and I personally learnt a lot about tackling various internal conflicts through dialogue, participation and leadership qualities. Also, Change Looms is refreshingly different and quite energizing simply because you are in a group of very different individuals sharing one common passion - social change and what you learn as a group is never repeatable in any other environment.," added Iyappan, Founder, Sri Arunodayam.

"One of the The Global Fund for Children for Children's key missions is to seek out and support organizations that foster and promote the entrepreneurial spirit among youth living in vulnerable and marginalized situations. That is why we are so proud or our association with Pravah and its Change Looms Fellowship Program. By supporting young social entrepreneurs, Pravah's program works to ensure that they gather the insights, opportunities, and skills they need to pursue their aspirations and have a positive impact on the overall society," said Dr. Vineeta Gupta, Program Officer, South Asia, The Global Fund for Children.

Sharing her thoughts, Meenu Venkateswaran, CEO of Pravah, said "For Pravah which is all about youth citizenship action, Change Looms is a natural extension as it not only fits into our original vision but allows us a structured framework to identify and support some of the most promising young social change agents across the country. We plan to touch 40 social change agents through Change Looms by 2010 and we will constantly refine the program and its structure to increase the value it delivers. We have two partners supporting us already in Change Looms and am happy that we have a global grant making organization like GFC now joining to support the program. We at Pravah are quite excited about Change Looms and the cumulative impact it will have on the society for years and decades to come."

Change Looms is basically an annual program wherein applications are invited from any youth working in the social arena with emphasis on the unique focus of their work and their commitment to the cause. From among the applications, selected applicants are short listed who then as Change Loomers undergo a formal structured process of coaching, mentoring and support. The identified Change Loomers assemble for a Development Centre spread over a week where they share their thoughts, best practices with eminent personalities acting as trainers and coaches. Post the workshop, the Change Loomers receive constant inputs and support in achieving their objectives besides being supported to grow as social change agents. A small grant is also made available to the Change Loomers to help them undertake learning initiatives and fine tune their organizational blueprint and action plan.

About Pravah: Founded in 1993, Pravah is a New Delhi-based non-profit organization based in New Delhi with a vision to build leadership for social change amongst young people. Pravah works with adolescents and youth to impact issues of social justice through youth citizenship action. It has designed and successfully implemented innovative active citizenship programs with diverse groups of young people across India. After a decade of intensive work, Pravah recently expanded its portfolio to teachers training, incubating new initiatives and facilitative work with other organizations working on youth development. Together with these partners we are currently advocating for youth development and citizenship action.

About The Global Fund for Children: The Global Fund for Children's (GFC) is a grant making organization based in United States. Its mission is to advance the dignity of children and youth around the world. GFC pursues its mission by making small grants to innovative community-based organizations working with some of the world's most vulnerable children and youth, complemented by a dynamic media program that, through books, documentary photography, and film, highlights the issues affecting children.