The Gender Lab Fellowship
A paid fellowship journey for young women leaders

JOIN THE FELLOWSHIP.
Learn more
Participants
Recent young graduate women from ages 20-25
Goal
Equip young women with leadership and entrepreneurial skills through delivery of the Avanti Young Women Leadership Program, supported by an extensive learning journey
Duration
10 months
The Gender Lab Fellowship is a rigorous 10-month paid fellowship journey that enables women leaders to build gender equity by delivering the Avanti Young Women’s Leadership Program in schools across Mumbai. It aims to build leadership, employability and entrepreneurship skills among recent graduate women through a service learning experience.
Fellows are responsible for multiple aspects of program delivery, including:
Documentation
Facilitation of workshops for Avanti participants
Monitoring and evaluation
Managing relationships with school partners
Mentoring
Through this journey of personal growth and discovery, fellows build self-awareness, communication skills, and a vision for themselves towards an independent future.
9 fellows
since 2015
750 school girls
trained per fellow
“This fellowship helped me increase my self confidence. As a result, it helped me voice my opinion in front of my family and friends. The fellowship pushed me beyond my comfort zone.”
Radhika, 2015 Gender Lab Fellow
Avanti Young Women Leadership Program (AYWLP)
A leadership program offered to young school girls

BECOME A SCHOOL PARTNER.
Email us
Participants
13-14 year old girls
Goal
Develop young women leaders through workshops and community action projects
Duration
4-6 months
The Avanti Young Women Leadership Program gives young girls an opportunity to develop leadership skills through a service learning project around social issues. It was initiated in the memory of the late Avanti Desai, daughter of Mr. Ashank Desai (founder of Mastek).
The training program aims to make them more confident, give them a sense of purpose, allow them to be creative and think out of the box.
The community project is an opportunity for the girls to apply what they learned in the training program.
Previous projects have addressed issues in:






As a result of our program, we have seen our girls emerge as leaders with the following skills:
empathy | collaboration | self confidence | execution | public speaking | vision | decision making | problem solving | social awareness & responsibility
12,000 participants
since the program’s inception in Mumbai, Goa, Delhi and NCR
1,000+ community projects
initiated
“So what if we are girls? We proved it to our parents that even we’re capable of doing something substantial.”
2014 Avanti participant
The Gender Lab Boys Program
A service learning program offered to young school boys

BECOME A SCHOOL PARTNER.
Email us
Participants
School-going boys, ages 13-14
Goal
Prevent gender-based violence by engaging boys in workshops and community action projects
Duration
3-4 months
The Gender Lab Boys Program aims to build a generation of boys and men who are self-aware, empathetic and sensitive to gender issues. It engages 13-14 year old school going boys in a service learning program that aims to prevent gender-based violence.
The classroom workshops focus on violent masculinity and its link to gender-based violence and aim to develop empathy. It increases boys’ awareness, enabling them to identify acts of gender-based violence and understand how they can be catalysts of change.
Action projects have addressed issues like:
bullying | sexist abusive language | domestic violence | sexual harassment in public places | corporal punishment
577 boys
reached through the program
89 community projects
completed by participants
“The program helped me realize that the strength associated with being masculine could be channelized towards responsible actions, and not towards harassing women and showing off. Women are as capable and strong as we are.”
Rahul Vaishnav, St. Agnes High School
The Community Connect Fellowship
A leadership development program for young adults to build active citizenship

JOIN THE FELLOWSHIP.
Learn more
Participants
Young people aged 16-26 interested in serving their community
Goal
Empower the youth to become active citizens through service learning
Duration
4 hours a week, 4-5 months
The Community Connect Fellowship (CCF) is a leadership development program that builds active citizenship in young individuals through local civic projects. It includes skillbuilding sessions, constructive dialogue, awareness activities, and an action project.
In collaboration with civic authorities and local communities, CCF fellows have worked on:



310 fellows
in the past 4 years
6,500+ civic complaints filed
with municipal corporations
“I started out very quiet, not expressing my views in front of other people. Surveying my colony, meeting the official, and interacting with people in my area helped me gain confidence in both myself and the community.”
Ravi Jaiswal, 2017 CCF Fellow
People’s Un-versity
A platform for young people to develop their own learning journeys

JOIN A LEARNING CIRCLE.
Email us
Participants
Anyone interested in self and collaborative learning
Goal
Provide a space for individuals to create their own learning journeys
Duration
3+ hours a week
We believe that individuals can design their own learning journeys, and not necessarily have to rely only on existing institutions to gain knowledge. Mumbai People’s Un-versity is a platform facilitated by BRM that allows interested individuals to come together to re-think learning for a better world. They decide where, when, how, and what they wish to learn for themselves, rather than being pressured by a degree or job.
The current course is Social Artivism: Bringing change creatively. It intends to build skills in clear communication and the art of dialogue.
RURBAN
An initiative to discuss and build awareness about rural development

JOIN A RURBAN CIRCLE.
Email us
Participants
Anyone interested in rural and urban development
Goal
Raise awareness about the link between urban and rural areas through community discussions
Duration
Duration varies, follow Facebook page for updates
We believe that self and social awareness includes understanding how our actions in urban areas affect those living in rural India. RURBAN discussion circles provide a platform dialogue about the link between cities and villages, rethinking development, and catalyzing support for reforms for the poorest of our society.
Currently, BRM is collaborating with Ekta Parishad, an organization working towards securing land, water and forest rights for farmers from the central government. We are raising awareness in urban areas of this rural struggle through a communications campaign in order to demonstrate our solidarity.
Media Lab
An initiative to explore the use of media in social movements

JOIN OUR MEDIA LAB.
Email us
Participants
Anyone interested in new media
Goal
Experiment with different types of media for social change
Duration
Every Tuesday for 3 hours at CED, Colaba
BRM’s Media Lab is a collective of creative professionals who bring together their talents to co-create new media that speaks to the concerns and aspirations of our community. We have collaborated with Mumbai’s Center for Education and Documentation (CED), who supports us with its expertise in documenting social change movements for more than 4 decades.
The Lab’s aim is to share stories from the ground, articulate BRM’s vision, create a space for public dialogue, and produce content intended to create change. Currently, the Media Lab is experimenting with producing video content, social media campaigns, and newsletters.
South Asian Youth Conference (SAYC)
A conference for 18-40 year-old leaders and changemakers in South Asia

JOIN THE CONFERENCE.
Learn more
Participants
Anyone aged 18-40 from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
Goal
Create a network of young leaders and changemakers throughout South Asia
Duration
Next application deadline is March 2018 (For SAYC 2018)
The South Asian Youth Conference brings together young leaders in South Asia around the theme of Peace. Over the last 6 years, we have convened in person and online, weaving a family of rising changemakers who are on their way to becoming a powerful force for a peaceful South Asia.
The conference lasts 3 days and is designed to be a dynamic, positive space where 100 youth delegates from across South Asia can interact, exchange ideas, and discuss social issues. All days include workshops, panel discussions, guest speakers and working-groups to cover themes including art and culture, violence, and gender identity.
5 conferences
since 2011
500 participants
from 8 countries
“There is so much to be grateful for that I find myself completely out of words. Reflecting on last four days, I think it has refined for me a lot of things I have been struggling with for a long time; for example, finding love in conflicts and idea of happy co-existence while in disagreements.”
Zohaib Karim Noorani, Delegate from Pakistan, SAYC 2017
Relead
A leadership development program for individuals and institutions

JOIN THE PROGRAM.
Learn more
Participants
Individuals and organizations interested in leadership training
Goal
Build leadership within organizations to increase their impact
Duration
Can be customized
The Relead program helps individuals answer questions around career, relationship, money and self.
Relead has also helped NGOs, organizations, and other institutions across various sectors to change the way their learning happens. Our training’s foundations lie in psychology, philosophy, management, ecology and systems thinking, and past participants include organizations like Make a Difference, Desh Apnayen Sahyog Foundation, Masoom, Bhumi and Piramal Foundation.
We aim to develop participants’ skills in:
leadership | motivation | teamwork | conflict resolution | effective communications | self-awareness | visioning | performance
“The youth of today have a tough job ahead of them to make this world a better place. Relead was a great step in this endeavour. The sessions were designed to help them go through a soul-searching journey, combined with management and leadership principles. They were able to understand issues better and provide innovative solutons.”
Rakesh Godhwani,
Head, IIMB Alumni Association