Kotak Education Foundation

Kotak Education Foundation (KEF) is a nonprofit organisation established in 2007 and based in Mumbai. It is the primary implementing agency for the CSR initiatives of Kotak Mahindra Group in education. KEF works with children and youth from underserved communities across school education, scholarships, vocational training, and teacher capacity building. Its work is concentrated in Mumbai and Maharashtra, with programmes now expanding to Gujarat, Goa, and Andhra Pradesh.

Headquarters: Chembur, Mumbai, Maharashtra Sectors: Education, Vocational Training, Youth Livelihoods, Teacher Development What They Do

KEF's work spans three broad areas: school-based programmes, scholarships, and vocational education.

• School Education In Mumbai, KEF works directly with students and educators in government and low-income schools. Key programmes include spoken English training for students (Umang), teacher capacity building on foundational literacy and numeracy, digital learning in classrooms, and school leadership development for headteachers. KEF also runs a Model School programme that supports districts in building and running quality government schools. Beyond Mumbai, KEF's Project KSHAMATA (Kindling Scholastic Acumen and Mediating Academic and Technological Awareness) is a large-scale teacher capacity building programme active across 13 districts and over 300 PM SHRI schools in Maharashtra, and expanding to Gujarat, Goa, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Scholarships KEF has supported over 7,500 scholars to date through four scholarship programmes. Kotak Junior Scholarship provides financial and academic support to students from underserved communities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region for Grades 11 and 12. The programme felicitated over 1,400 new scholars at its 2025 ceremony. Kotak Kanya Scholarship, launched in 2021, provides financial and academic support to meritorious girl students from across India for higher education. Kotak Graduate Scholarship supports students pursuing professional courses including Engineering, MBBS, and integrated LLB. Kotak Shiksha Nidhi was introduced after the COVID-19 pandemic to support students aged 6 to 22 who lost a parent or primary earning family member due to the pandemic. It provided financial assistance of up to ₹2.5 lakh per year along with academic mentoring, mental health support, career guidance, and life skills coaching. The programme supported over 1,500 students across India.
• Vocational Education and Livelihoods KEF's Unnati programme trains unemployed youth from low-income backgrounds in employable skills across banking and financial services, customer relations and sales, hospitality, and beauty and wellness. Training includes spoken English, digital literacy, life skills, and job placement support. Over 12,500 young people have been trained through the programme, with 7,695 placed in jobs.

KEF is a good fit for people with backgrounds in education, teacher training, social work, programme management, or communications who want to work on improving school quality and youth livelihoods in urban and peri-urban Maharashtra.