NalandaWay Foundation

NalandaWay Foundation is a 20-year-old non-profit that uses the arts to empower children and adolescents from disadvantaged communities by strengthening their resilience, agency, and emotional well-being.

  • Gold Certified 2023
  • FCRA
  • 80G
  • 12A
  • CSR-1
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About

  • Headquarters

    Chennai, Tamil Nadu

  • Since

    2003

NalandaWay Foundation is a 20-year-old nonprofit organisation that uses the arts to empower children and adolescents from disadvantaged communities by strengthening their Read moreresilience, agency, and emotional well-being. Over the last two decades, we have reached 10 million children across 10 states in India — including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, and Jharkhand — by creating safe learning spaces and experiences that nurture curiosity, creativity, and compassion. Working in partnership with governments and local communities, we have integrated arts and well-being initiatives into government-run schools, Child Care Institutions (CCIs), urban slums, and Anganwadi Centres, ensuring our impact spans both bustling cities and remote villages.


Action

NalandaWay uses art and play-enabled pedagogies to remove fear and bring joy to the learning process for disadvantaged children.

Demographies Served

Impact

Since 2003, NalandaWay has impacted the lives of over 10 million children through their arts-based education and wellbeing programs.

Vision & Mission

NalandaWay’s vision is to use the arts to empower children and adolescents from disadvantaged communities by strengthening their resilience, agency, and emotional well-being.

NalandaWay’s mission to integrate arts and well-being initiatives for children into government-run schools, Child Care Institutions (CCI’s), urban slums, and Anganwadi Centres, leveraging partnerships with funders, governments and local communities.

Donor History

HCL Foundation
Merkle Inspire Private Limited & Paragon Digital Services Private Limited (Denstu)
GlobalLogic India Private Limited & GlobalLogic Technologies Private Limited
Michelin India Tyres Private Limited
Cholamandalam Investments and Finance Co. Ltd.

Programs

Impact Metrics

  • No. of Ccis

    Program Name

    Child Care Institution Program

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 10
    • 2022-23 18
    • 2023-24 34
  • No. of Districts

    Program Name

    Child Care Institution Program

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 6
    • 2022-23 14
    • 2023-24 24
    • 2024-25 30
  • No. of Children

    Program Name

    Child Care Institution Program

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 230
    • 2022-23 655
    • 2023-24 1300
  • No. of Children

    Program Name

    Early Childhood

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 66
    • 2022-23 300
    • 2023-24 750
    • 2024-25 1000
  • No. of Anganwadis

    Program Name

    Early Childhood

    Year-wise Metrics
    • 2021-22 2
    • 2022-23 8
    • 2023-24 15

Theory of Change

NalandaWay Foundation uses the arts to empower children from disadvantaged communities by strengthening their resilience, agency, and emotional well-being. We do this by, creating safe spaces and experiences that cultivate curiosity, creativity and compassion. We integrate wellbeing initiatives through partnerships with government and local communities, reaching both bustling cities and remote villages.

Milestones & Track Record

Since 2003, NalandaWay Foundation has been dedicated to strengthening the resilience, agency, and emotional well-being of children and adolescents through innovative, arts-based interventions.

Over the past two decades, our programs have positively impacted over 10 million children across 12 states in India.

Central to our work is a commitment to creating evidence-based, scalable, and high-impact interventions, anchored in strategic partnerships. We have collaborated with 40+ partners, including government bodies, philanthropic institutions, and key stakeholders, to co-create and implement these initiatives.

In recent years, we have also leveraged digital tools to expand our reach and embed the arts more deeply within the education system, ensuring sustainability and systemic change.

Leadership Team

  • Anil Srinivasan

    Member – Advisory Board

  • Ramya Rajaraman

    Trustee

  • Pradeepa R

    Associate Director -Projects

  • Prabhakar MP

    Associate Director

  • Sameen Almas

    Director

  • Sriram V

    Founder & CEO

  • Patrick Madhusudan Mathews

    Managing Trustee

  • Vidhya T

    Associate Director - HR and Organisation Effectiveness

  • Ganesh Babu

    Associate Director – Accounts

  • Deepika Sharma

    Associate Director - Projects

  • Dhivya Ramalingam

    Associate Director - Projects

  • Garima Sharma

    Associate Director - Research and Impact

Demographics & Structure

  • No. of Employees

    100+

  • Strength of Governing Body

    3

  • Diversity Metrics

    74% women

M&E

  • Internal, External Assessors

    Yes

Policies

  • Ethics and Transparency Policies

    Yes

  • Formal CEO Oversight & Compensation Policy

    Yes

Political & Religious Declarations

  • On Affiliation if any

    No

  • On Deployment Bias if any

    No

Awards & Recognitions

Great Place to Work Certified (2023-24),
GUIDESTAR INDIA - The Platinum Certification (Transparency & Public Accountability) 2017-2022

Millenium Alliance - Award for Art in Education,
MILLENNIUM ALLIANCE - FICCI - USAID DEVELOPMENT MARKETPLACE 2011 Development Marketplace Award WORLD BANK

Registration Details

  • PAN Card

    AABTN9221H

  • Registration ID

    425 of 2003/Book IV

  • VO ID / Darpan ID

    TN/2018/0184817

  • 12A

    AABTN9221HE20214

  • 80G

    AABTN9221HF20214

  • FCRA

    075901157

  • CSR Registration Number

    CSR00001780

About

  • Headquarters

    Chennai, Tamil Nadu

  • Since

    2003

Demographies Served

Impact

Since 2003, NalandaWay has impacted the lives of over 10 million children through their arts-based education and wellbeing programs.

Location

Vision & Mission

NalandaWay’s vision is to use the arts to empower children and adolescents from disadvantaged communities by strengthening their resilience, agency, and emotional well-being.

NalandaWay’s mission to integrate arts and well-being initiatives for children into government-run schools, Child Care Institutions (CCI’s), urban slums, and Anganwadi Centres, leveraging partnerships with funders, governments and local communities.

Political & Religious Declarations

  • On Affiliation if any

    No

  • On Deployment Bias if any

    No

Other Details

  • Type & Sub Type

    Non-profit
    Trust

Financial Details

 Income / Expenses
  • 2021-22

    Income
    52,852,177
    Expenses
    59,235,695
    Admin Expenses
    3,556,304
    Program Expenses
    55,679,391
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.
  • 2022-23

    Income
    66,624,572
    Expenses
    67,645,406
    Admin Expenses
    6,791,382
    Program Expenses
    60,854,024
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.
  • 2023-24

    Income
    85,761,895
    Expenses
    79,298,421
    Admin Expenses
    4,110,371
    Program Expenses
    75,288,050
    Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.