Support us as we build back better and give young people the Chance to Thrive

The latest Indian National Crime Records Bureau report states that student suicides spiked to a new high of 12,526 in 2020, contributing to over 8.2% of deaths among young people. UNICEF’s report titled The State of the World’s Children 2021 states that 1 in 7 young people between ages 15 and 24 in India were depressed or lacked interest to do anything. Another global study on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) published in the Journal of Adolescent Sciences reported that exposure to adversity is strongly associated with depression and violence inflicted by young people in poor urban areas around the world, including India. The data that has emerged in the last two years seems stacked against our young people, and it does not help when additional reports state that the pandemic will further allow students to fall behind. Dream a Dream has been working for more than two decades to empower young people from vulnerable backgrounds to overcome adversity by using a creative life skills approach. We know that even as children and young people are empowered, systemic barriers and archaic ideas of success continue to push young people back. We have a three-pronged approach to our work.

Through Direct Impact, we engage over 10,000 young people every year through two innovation labs, the Thriving Centres and Thriving Schools. These spaces offer safe and nurturing environments where young people can express themselves freely, explore their creativity, and learn to navigate challenges with confidence. At our Thriving Centres, youth aged 15 to 23 participate in holistic learning experiences that combine digital literacy, communication, financial skills, and emotional well-being. Our Thriving Schools model reimagines schools as ecosystems of belonging, where teachers, students, and school leaders work together to create joyful learning environments rooted in empathy and inclusion.

Through Systems Demonstration, we partner with state governments to embed life skills and social-emotional learning within public education systems. We are currently working across seven Indian states including Delhi, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Telangana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, and Nagaland to co-create policies, curricula, teacher training, and assessment frameworks that place well-being and equity at the heart of education. Together, we have trained over 35,000 teachers and educators, reaching more than 2.6 million children. This work ensures that transformation is not dependent on individual programs but becomes part of how the system itself operates.

Through Building the Field, we are influencing the larger ecosystem of education by shaping research, policy, and narratives that redefine success. We collaborate with national and international partners to generate evidence, share insights, and build a collective movement around life skills and thriving. We annually convene educators, policymakers, and thought leaders through Change the Script, our annual gathering that brings diverse voices together to question the status quo and reimagine education for the future.

With your support, we can change that. Your contribution will help us bring empathy, creativity, and life skills into classrooms across India, train more teachers to become compassionate facilitators, and reach millions of children with the chance to truly thrive. Together, we can build an education system and a future, where every child has the opportunity to dream, grow, and live with dignity and purpose.