Magic Bus India Foundation

Magic Bus India Foundation is a non-profit founded in 1999 by Matthew Spacie, working with young people to take them on a journey from childhood to livelihood and out of poverty. It uses life skills education and employability skilling to help adolescents complete secondary education and enable youth to secure sustainable jobs. Magic Bus is registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, and is certified as a Great Place to Work for the sixth consecutive year running.

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Major Areas of Work

• Adolescent Education: Life skills education and community learning centres helping adolescents stay in school and complete secondary education.
• Livelihood and Skilling: Youth skilling, employability training, and job placement support for young people from underserved communities.
• Government Partnership: Programmes co-designed with state governments to reach adolescents in government schools.
• Gender Equity: Programmes with a strong focus on increasing girls' participation and outcomes across all interventions.

Major Initiatives and Programmes

• Adolescents Life Skills Education: Life skills training delivered through schools and community learning centres.
• Youth for Change Fellowship Programme: A fellowship developing young people as change agents in their communities.
• Youth Skilling Programme: Vocational and employability skills training for youth. Connect with Work Programme: Job readiness and placement support connecting trained youth to sustainable employment.
• Entrepreneurship Development Programme: Support for youth looking to start their own small enterprises.

Impact

Magic Bus states it has impacted one million lives since 1999 through its Childhood to Livelihood approach. It works across multiple states and union territories in India, including several Aspirational Blocks, with programmes reaching adolescents through community learning centres and trained teachers, alongside youth livelihood centres supporting job placement. The organisation has received recognition including the Laureus Sport for Good Award, the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, and multiple India's Best NGO to Work For honours from the Great Place to Work Institute. Its corporate partnerships span organisations such as HDFC Bank, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Nestlé, and JSW Foundation, several of which run multi-year, multi-state programmes reaching tens of thousands of children and young people.

Leadership

• Matthew Spacie, Founder
• Jayant Rastogi, Global CEO
• Monika Bawa, Chief Human Resources Officer
• Kedarprasad Lathkar, Chief Financial Officer

Partners

HDFC Bank, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Nestlé, JSW Foundation, Oracle, Qualcomm, Bajaj Finance, Tata Capital, Vodafone India Services, Accenture, Wipro, Barclays, adidas, Deloitte

Magic Bus suits people who want to work directly on youth education and livelihoods at national scale, backed by one of India's most recognised names in the sector. The organisation offers exposure to large, well resourced corporate partnerships alongside grassroots implementation across states and Aspirational Blocks. It appeals to people who want measurable, long-term impact on poverty, education, and employment, at an organisation with over 25 years of track record and strong recognition as an employer.