Umeed

Umeed is a non-profit founded in 2015 by Gauri Mahendra and Udita Chadha in Hyderabad, promoting women's empowerment and working to radically alter the mindsets that exist within society. The founders met in 2013 while teaching underprivileged children through a two-year fellowship in Hyderabad's Yousufguda slum, where they discovered that many of their students were child labourers, and traced the root cause to the disempowered role of mothers within the family. This insight became Umeed's founding mission: to create income sources and platforms for women from low-income communities to achieve dignity, respect, and economic independence. Umeed works extensively with women across Telangana, from all walks of life, equipping them with life skills, financial literacy, and a progressive mindset to help them take control of their wellbeing and meaningfully contribute to their families and communities.

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Headquarters: Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

Major Areas of Work

• Economic Empowerment: Creating income sources for women from low-income communities, enabling financial independence through skills training and entrepreneurship.

• Skill Development: Equipping women with employable, functional skills to address the gap between their capabilities and local industry demands.

• Financial Literacy: Building knowledge of saving, budgeting, and financial planning among women who have historically been excluded from financial decision-making.

• Career & Workforce Readiness: Partnering with educational institutions to run career-building workshops for unskilled women from low-income urban communities.

• Mindset & Social Transformation: Working to shift oppressive societal mindsets and support women's dignity, self-esteem, and decision-making power within their families.

Major Initiatives & Programmes

• FirstLeap: A flagship program for unskilled women from low-income urban communities looking to join the workforce, run in collaboration with education institutions and faculty.

• Karigari: A skills training initiative teaching women to craft eco-friendly newspaper handicrafts, paired with life skills training in digital literacy, financial planning, budgeting, and teamwork.

• IWD & Graduation Ceremony (#InvestingInWomen): Annual events bringing together educationists, funders, entrepreneurs, and professionals to advance investment in women's empowerment.

Impact

Umeed has supported hundreds of women across Telangana in breaking cycles of domestic abuse, financial dependency, and social oppression, helping them build sustainable livelihoods through handicraft training, financial literacy, and workforce readiness programs. The organisation runs a lifelong network of trust and support for the women it works with, and collaborates with multiple education institutions to deliver its FirstLeap career-building program.

Umeed is an excellent fit for professionals passionate about women's empowerment, livelihood development, financial inclusion, and grassroots social transformation who want to contribute to lasting, dignity-centered change for underserved women.

Partners and Clients

Educational institutions and faculty partners across Telangana, along with corporate CSR partners and funders supporting women's empowerment initiatives.

Leadership

Co-Founder – Gauri Mahendra