Breakthrough

Breakthrough is a non-governmental organization committed to creating a world where women and girls can live with dignity and reach their full potential. They operate on the principle that to achieve gender equality, it's essential to address and change the deep-seated cultural norms and societal beliefs that limit women and girls.

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Their Approach to Change Instead of focusing only on symptoms, Breakthrough targets the root causes of gender inequality by aiming for long-term culture change. Their primary strategy is to shift the social norms, attitudes, and behaviours that perpetuate discrimination.

The organization believes that lasting change begins with the younger generation. They focus their efforts on adolescents and young people aged 11–24, engaging them in schools and local communities. The goal is to empower an entire generation to become advocates for change, creating a ripple effect that transforms families, communities, and eventually, society at large. Through their programs, young people develop crucial skills like agency (the ability to make their own choices and act on them), negotiation skills (the confidence to navigate difficult conversations and advocate for themselves), and aspiration (the vision to imagine and work towards a future beyond traditional, restrictive roles).

Major Areas of Work

• Direct Work with Young People and Communities: Life-skills and gender education for adolescents (ages 11-25) in schools and communities, building confidence, negotiation skills, and leadership, while also engaging parents and community leaders to reinforce change at home.
• Media and Digital for Progressive Storytelling: Using films, podcasts, digital series, and social media to challenge harmful gender norms and build safer online spaces for young people.
• Government Partnerships for Equal Classrooms: Training teachers and school leaders through a train-the-trainer model, embedding gender equity directly into state curricula and classroom culture.
• Building Supportive Ecosystems: Representing Breakthrough's evidence and perspective at national and global policy forums to influence how gender equality is addressed at a systems level.
• Gender Mainstreaming in Education: Working as a technical partner and coalition anchor to embed gender equity into education policy in line with India's National Education Policy 2020.

Major Initiatives & Programmes

• Taaron Ki Toli: Breakthrough's flagship life-skills gender education programme, delivered in age-specific tracks from ages 11 to 24, running across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Delhi.
• Chanan Risman (Punjab): A gender-equity curriculum integrated into English and Social Studies for grades 6-8, in partnership with the Government of Punjab and J-PAL South Asia, reaching 6,250 schools across 23 districts.
• Barnali (Odisha): A five-year gender-equity curriculum (grades 6-10) with the Government of Odisha, active in 21,273 schools across 30 districts.
• India Coalition for Education for Gender Equality: Co-anchored with UNGEI, a national platform of 32+ organisations covering nearly 90% of India's geography.
• Reframe: Breakthrough's annual summit convening diverse sectors to move gender equality from conversation to action.
• Breakthrough Media: A content slate including the podcasts Keeping It Feminist and Fursat Mein Serious Baatein, and the digital series Flip the Narrative.

Organizational Culture Breakthrough's work is guided by its core values of Dignity, Integrity, and Equity. This is reflected in their internal culture, where they are an equal opportunity employer that actively encourages applications from women, people from marginalised communities, and other genders. The organization is also deeply committed to child safeguarding in all its programs and prioritizes the mental health and well-being of its employees, fostering a supportive and progressive work environment.