Shaheen Mistri (born 16 March 1971) is an Indian social activist and educator known as the founder of

Akanksha Foundation The Akanksha Foundation founded by Shaheen Mistri is a non-profit organization in India, which works with children from low-income communities. The foundation works primarily in the field of education, through its "School Project" model. Akan ...

, and social activist, an Indian non-profit educational initiative in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, Occupation in CEO of Teach for India since 2008. Books Redrawing India, The Teach for India story, Miss Muglie Goes to Mumbai.

Early life

Shaheen Mistri was born on 16 March 1971 in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, in She grew up in 5 different countries as she moved countries with her father, a senior banker with

Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, t ...

. At the age of eighteen she returns to Mumbai keen to learn more about the city and its slums, when she decided to enroll at the University of Mumbai. Shaheen had always heard about inequalities in India’s education system, but what she saw shocked her. She graduated with a BA degree in Sociology from St. Xavier's College,

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

and later obtained a MA from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. Shaheen has been an Ashoka Fellow, a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum, and an Asia Society 21 Leader. Shaheen is the author of the book, Re-drawing India.

Career

Shaheen Mistri, as a young college student, walked into the

slums and expressed her desire to teach the less privileged children who roamed the streets. Shaheen founded the first Akanksha Center in 1989, enrolling 15 children and employing college friends as volunteers. It eventually evolved into the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit education project that provided after-school tutoring to children from low-income. Today, Akanksha reaches out to over 6500 children through its School Project Model. The centers and schools are in Mumbai and Pune. Teachers teach children using an innovative methodology, which has won the foundation international honors. In the summer of 2008, Shaheen founded Teach for India, with an audacious vision of providing an excellent education to all children across India through building a pipeline of leaders committed to ending educational inequity in India. The Teach for India Fellowship enlists India's most promising college graduates and young professionals to spend two years teaching in low-income schools and attempt to bridge the educational gap in the country.

Board memberships

Shaheen serves on the boards of Akanksha Foundation and Simple Education Foundation and is an ex-member of the board of Design for Change, the Thermax Foundation, and Teach for All.

Published works

* '' Redrawing India: The Teach for India Story'' (2014)

Awards

* Ashoka Fellow (2001) * Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum (2002) * Asia Society 21 Leader (2006)

References

External links

Teach for India official siteAkanksha Foundation official siteMistri
at ISB {{DEFAULTSORT:Mistri, Shaheen Indian social entrepreneurs Indian women activists Women educators from Maharashtra 21st-century Indian educational theorists University of Mumbai alumni Parsi people from Mumbai Living people 1969 births Activists from Maharashtra Women writers from Maharashtra Educators from Maharashtra 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian non-fiction writers Indian social sciences writers 21st-century Indian women educators 21st-century Indian educators