Creating Sustainable Youth Livelihoods

Empower Pragati is an India-based private sector social enterprise specializing in livelihood skill development to empower India's disadvantaged youth.  We believe that all youth are capable of gainful employment, but those living in urban and rural poverty lack the required education and opportunity.  Our ventures focus on innovative vocational and skill straining programs that seek to create sustainable livelihoods for the urban and rural poor.  We are a Investee company of the National Skills Development Corporation of India.

The Backdrop

The Indian economy's impressive growth this decade has generated new livelihood positions in the service sector fields.  However, more than half of our India's workforce lacks formal education and trained skills.  Sadly, over 46% of our youth have never finish secondary education.  They are forced to perform menial labor making sub-par wages that do not provide the stability or security for personal progress or development.

This is exacerbated by increasing rural migration.  Even with the abundance of opportunity in urban areas, rural migrants do not have access to information, knowhow or training to appropriately operate in urban life and pursue these employment opportunities. Relegated to slums, these citizens add to the growing population at the base of the pyramid. 

The Critical development issues such as unemployment and incomplete education that face the vulnerable population have severe consequences including insufficient income, exploitative markets, poor health - all factors that prolong the cycle of poverty.

The Innovation

Empower Pragati is connecting BOP livelihoods to the growing demands of India's service sector. Through evolving and exhaustive market scans, Empower Pragati has identified service sector areas in demand for entry and mid-level labor in both the formal and informal sectors. Accordingly, Empower Pragati provides youth skills training, confidence building, and career networking. The entrepreneurial vocations and market based courses range from BPO to drivers' education and are combined with computer and conversational English training. Pragati creates enduring value by allowing the BOP to access personalized training and job opportunities while delivering a new and capable labor supply, staffing and temping services to the growing demands of the private sector.

The Vision

Empower Pragati will train 2 million vulnerable people over the next 10 years by utilizing innovative and responsible livelihood training solutions.

Our Mission

"Transforming Lives, Skilling india"

History

Empower Pragati has been registered as a limited liability company in October 2010. The founders of the company combine amongst themselves a rich and varied experience in the corporate world in addition to a passion and understanding of the social sector. The National Skill Development Corporation (www.nsdcindia.org) a 25C corporation promoted by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, is an investee partner in Empower Pragati.