Founded 2011 | Website Star-gazers.org | |
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Mission "Innovating in education and healthcare for women at the grassroots." | ||
The Stargazers Foundation works in the domains of education and health, focusing on women in economically backward regions. The objective is to ultimately include healthy and skilled women from these backgrounds into the mainstream economy and governance structures.
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Organization
The Stargazers Foundation works closely with agencies of the government and the private sector, towards co-creating innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions. Stargazers runs its programmes in the Middle East and in India in close collaboration with the International Labour Organization, 100 Women in Hedge Funds, UN Women in Egypt and in India, Whypoll in India, King's College London in United Kingdom, Winentretien in France, Reconstructed Labs in South Africa, Lebara Foundation UK.
Founder Miniya Chatterji works at the World Economic Forum in Geneva and has stepped out of an active role at Stargazers but continues to provide Stargazers with leadership and direction.
Gender Gap Assessment Certificate for Corporations
Stargazers has created a simple and highly scientific tool that assesses gender related gaps in the working conditions, aspirations, potential, productivity, and leadership of organizations' workforce. This tool has been adopted by UN Women as a self-assessment tool for providing the Gender Equity Certificate to organizations in 60 companies in Egypt.
Stargazers believes that gender gap is far beyond a mere head count issue, and instead must lie in the core of any organization's business strategy so as to increase the organization's productivity, its revenues, as well as the well-being of employees.
Towards this objective, Stargazers offers the GES Tool—an in-depth and scientific gender equity self-assessment tool— for organizations to assess their gender gaps and include gender-related considerations in their overall business strategy and planning.
Stargazers Grassroots Education Fellowship
The Stargazers Grassroots Education Fellowship is located at top universities of the world offered to candidates of Indian citizenship belonging to low-income groups and with a substantial record of driving change in their local community.
The Fellowship is designed to shape future leaders who contribute locally and think globally. It equips the student with the skills they need to benefit their local communities, at the same time ensuring their own long-term future as educated, employed, and financially independent members of society.
Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply, on the basis that they are the most likely agents of change for their local communities. Many development organisations now accept that when young women thrive, everyone around them thrives as well, and standards of living rise for the entire community.
The first Fellowship is located at King's College London and is offered for an 11-month Master’s Degree in a subject of the student’s choice. It will include a three-month English language and technology orientation course prior to departure for London; an in-year mentorship programme in London; and two six month social service internship programmes, the first in the student’s community in India, and the second in a community in Africa after completion of the degree.
The Stargazers Foundation is raising funds for this Special Grassroots Leadership Education Fellowship.
The Anantara Maternal Healthcare and Pre-school Education Centres
The Anantara Maternal Healthcare and Pre-school Education centres are a new model for community healthcare through technology and education, located in several parts of rural India. The Stargazers Foundation places automated medicine dispensers for pregnant women that are dosage controlled, web based medical advice, and visual technology aided education for children aged 2 to 6. The Anantara centres are run by solar energy panels which ensure continuous power supply in these areas where electricity is sparse. Stargazers first Anantara centre is based in Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh, India.
The Anantara centre in Nizamabad receives incubation, mentorship, business, and product development support from Reconstructed Living Labs (RLabs) South Africa in 2013.
Stargazers and Whypoll Mentorship Internship Programme
Stargazers and Whypoll Mentorship Internship Programme connects Indian women CEOs in the private sector to young women from economically backward backgrounds in India. The Mentorship Internship programme identifies young women leaders from economically backward areas in India and provides them with unique opportunities of mentorship to learn and grow in a professional environment.
The programme aims to not only provide accompaniment and guidance to the next generation of Indian woman business leaders from disadvantaged backgrounds, but also to sensitize and engage existing successful Indian business women to the cause of nurturing innovation, creativity, and hidden potential in the next generation of leadership.
It benefits both mentor and mentee by providing for powerful professional opportunities, skills development and insights, as well as financial independence to the mentee, yet the most valuable resource exchanged for both is the human connection.
Partnerships
Stargazers has partnerships with Nestlé, International Labour Organization, UN Women, King's College London, 100 Women in Hedge Funds, Winentretien, Reconstructed Labs, Whypoll, Lebara Foundation UK, Bafna Pharmaceuticals Ltd, and Madhu Yaskhi Foundation.