Mission & Vision

DEVI Sansthan (Dignity Education Vision International) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1992 and based in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. Collaborating with governments, NGOs, schools, and corporations worldwide, DEVI Sansthan is accelerating FLN for children and adults.

Our Mission

To provide quality education for underprivileged communities by creating scalable, swift and effective pedagogies; and implementing them across broad geographies through partnerships with governments, schools & colleges, corporates and other NGOs.

Our Vision

A world in which every child gets a quality education, that goes beyond basic literacy to address key 21st century challenges, including climate change. A world in which every adult has the dignity of being able to read and write.

Chronicles of Progress

DEVI Sansthan's Path to Literacy and Development

Foundation and Pioneering Efforts Literacy Projects and Expansion Innovation and Crisis Response Strategic Growth and Global Collaboration 2014-2019 2020-2021 2022-2024 1992-2013
  • DEVI Sansthan is founded by the educationist Dr Sunita Gandhi while working as an Economist at the World Bank in Washington DC.
  • Early years are spent experimenting with grassroots community development in villages around Lucknow, including running health camps.
  • Later efforts included advocating with government officials for educational reform and prioritising literacy.
  • Hindi literacy work began in the slums of Lucknow, leading to the creation of a set of literacy materials.
  • Kurauni village was made literate through 22 women volunteers.
  • Conducted a literacy survey testing the reading levels of 1.5 million people in Lucknow.
  • Replicated literacy materials in 13 Indian languages, with the help of its partners.
  • The Each One Teach One campaign mobilized some 500, 000 student volunteers nationwide to make at least one person literate.
  • Developed EdTech literacy solutions in response to the Covid crisis.
  • DEVI Sansthan expanded community development work in vulnerable communities impacted by lockdown.
  • Replicated the literacy program into 30 Indian and International languages, paving the way for large-scale expansion.

Apr-Jun 2022: Initiating Key Partnerships

  • Ministry of Education Secretary Anita Karwal requested DEVI to work on improving education in two low-performing districts.
  • ALfA teacher training commenced in 10 schools of Shamli district.
  • Ministry of Education in Maldives signed up to implement ALfA in a pilot program.

Jul-Sep 2022: Launch and Expansion

  • Disruptive Literacy: A Roadmap for Urgent Global Action (Bloomsbury) was launched during the Synergy Summit.
  • Trained teachers from 10 schools each in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, and Sambalpur, Odisha, ready for ALfA implementation.
  • Conducted online training for hundreds of teachers from Maldives.

Oct-Dec 2022: Scaling Up Efforts

  • Scaled up implementation in Shamli to 200 schools. Teacher training and pre-tests were conducted.
  • Signed an MOU with Uttar Pradesh Primary School Department to implement ALfA in 15 districts.

Jan-Mar 2023: Broadening Reach and Recognition

  • Conducted in-person training of 800 teachers from government primary schools of Lucknow, Unnao, and Barabanki districts.
  • Published Harvard Graduate School of Education’s book Rebuilding Resilient Education Systems After Covid-19 Pandemic, featuring ALfA implementation in Shamli (Chapter 8) and Maldives (Chapter 10).
  • The first Massive Open Online Training and Policymakers Conclave attracted over 25, 000 views, with participants from 50 + countries.
  • Signed an MOU with the Department of Secondary School Education, Uttar Pradesh, to use the Literacy Now App in an Each One Teach One Campaign.

Apr-Jun 2023: International Expansion and Local Impact

  • Conducted the Fast-Track to FLN summer camp in Jawahar Nagar primary school, demonstrating that children can learn key skills in as little as 15 days. Discover how on page 10.
  • Dr. Gandhi visited Malaysia to conduct ALfA training for educators from seven countries. Check out more on page 44.
  • Literacy Chicago launched an ALfA pilot to help teach disadvantaged adults how to read. See the difference it is making on page 48.

Jul-Sep 2023: Global Engagement and Collaborations

  • A 130-member delegation from Maldives visited Lucknow to witness and be trained in the ALfA program. Read more about ALfA implementation in Maldives on page 46.
  • Representatives from Adventure of Humanity and World Climate School signed an MOU for partnership to scale up ALfA.
  • Conducted a Massive Open Online Training for teachers from Zimbabwe.

Oct-Dec 2023: Local Implementation and Statewide Expansion

  • Hilauli, a block of Unnao, implemented ALfA in all 155 schools. It later topped the district in the NIPUN Achievement Test, with 47% of schools deemed NIPUN compared to the district average of 15%. Discover the ALfA impact on page 19.
  • Signed an MOU with the Ministry of Education, Himachal Pradesh, to implement ALfA stage-wise in the whole state.
  • ALfA commenced in all 470 schools of Solan district.

Jan-Mar 2024: Synergy Summit and New Collaborations

  • Synergy Summit 2.0 brought together leading educational thinkers and practitioners.
  • Accelerating Learning for All was published by Bloomsbury. Check it out on page 36.
  • DEVI collaborated with DIET Leh and 17, 000 Feet Foundation to commence teacher training.
  • DEVI partnered with Vision Spring Foundation to help 10, 000 children from government schools get an eye check-up.

Founder - CEO

An Indian educator, researcher and author, is CEO of Dignity Education Vision International (DEVI Sansthan), and Chief Academic Advisor of her family-run City Montessori School, the world's largest school, and a recipient of the UNESCO Peace Prize. A PhD in Physics from Cambridge University, UK, Dr. Gandhi served as an Economist at the World Bank.

She is the author of Disruptive Literacy: A Roadmap for Urgent Global Action (Bloomsbury, 2022). Her recognitions include India's Educator of the Year 2014, Visionary of Uttar Pradesh 2017, and Shining World Caring Award, Taiwan, 2020.

Aïcha Bah Diallo (Kenya)

Founding Member of FAWE

Known as champion of girls' education, Aïcha Bah is a founding member of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). She is chair of the Network for Education for All in Africa (REPTA).

Alesha Anderson (USA)

Senior Program Officer at ProLiteracy Worldwide

Alesha is a program officer at ProLiteracy, a non-profit educational organization that works to enable adults and youth to acquire the literacy skills they need to solve the problems they encounter in daily life.

Alexandre Romanovsky (USA)

Advisor to companies dedicated to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Alexandre has been working as a climate activist and a serial entrepreneur in the tech and media industry for the past 30 years.

Global Executive Member & India Director, World Reader

Founding Member of FAWE

Bhanu provides strategic direction to Worldreader’s global portfolio of digital reading products and the buildup of India Organization.

Bill Graham (USA)

Chief Mentor/Adviser at Rotary Youth for a Better World

Bill is passionate about building a fully literate world, and has devoted many years of his life to the cause through his work with Rotary Youth for a Better World.

Chetnaa Mehrotra (India)

Founder - Rang Bhumi; Board Member- IPTN and PTO

Chetnaa, a renowned Applied Theatre practitioner, is a Board member of International Playback Theatre Network (IPTN) and Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed (PTO).

Cindy Charles (Guyana)

Founder & CEO, Kupanda Sisters Inc

Cindy is the Founder and President of Kupanda Sisters, Inc. as well as an Executive Administrator for JP Morgan Chase & Co. An advocate of literacy for all.

David Bovill (UK)

Partnerships Manager at DEIP

David is Partnership Manager at DEIP, which is the first Web 3.0 domain-specific protocol for tokenization and governance of high-value intangible assets.

David J. Rosen (USA)

Consultant, Author, Adult Literacy Expert

David was the director of the Adult Literacy Resource Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston from 1986 to 2003. He is the co-author of two online guides on blended learning for adult basic skills education.

Ernesto Schifelbein (Chile)

Chilean Pedagogue, Professor, Economists and Politician

Ernesto has served as Minister of Education of Chile, Director of Planning of the Ministry of Education, an expert in Educational Planning for the Regional Employment Program (1974-1976), and a visiting professor at Harvard University (1973-1974).

Fred Mednick (USA)

Teacher Without Borders Founder USA

Fred began his career as a teacher and school principal. In 2000, he founded Teachers Without Borders (TWB) to connect teacher leaders to information and each other to close the education divide. “Brains are evenly distributed throughout the world, ” he is fond of saying, “but education is not”.

Gail Davvis-Carter

UN ECOSOC Representative, UN Partner and Social Entrepreneur

Gail formed TheCreators2030 UN SDGs Arts & Youth Initiative (TheCreators2030.Org) to support Creative Professionals, Youth, Sports, NGOs, Private Sector and all citizens.

Girish Menon (India)

CEO, STIR Education

Girish joined STiR as its Chief Executive in January 2021 after five years as Chief Executive at ActionAid UK. He brings more than 35 years’ experience as a leader in the international development sector, having previously held roles as International Programmes Director and Deputy CEO at WaterAid UK.

Inger-Mette Stenseth (Norway)

Certified Trainer in System Thinking; Founder, World Climate School

Inger is both founder and galvanizing force behind ground-breaking deep ecology projects that bring together specialists in business, the arts, science, and education from around the globe.

Joanne Telser Frere (USA)

Director of Program Development, Literacy Chicago

Born in Chicago, Joanne has always been an adventurer. She has lived and worked in France, Pakistan, Egypt, and Qatar. Joanne is fluent in French and can get by in Arabic.

Jon M Corippo (USA)

Author, Eduprotocols

Jon has been recognized as a 20 to Watch Educator by the NSBA, and was a 2020 Edtech Digest Awards Trendsetter Winner. Jon is also the Co-Author of the Eduprotocol Field Guide Books 1 and 2 and assisted with the new Eduprotocols Math Edition.

Kyle Zimmer (USA)

CEO & Co-founder, First Book

Kyle founded First Book to provide quality books to underserved children. She developed two groundbreaking models of social entrepreneurship: the First Book Marketplace, an award-winning, self-sustaining program.

Mary McCool Berry (USA)

Founder and Practitioner, Read Keys

Mary is a literacy specialist who worked with children as a public school educator for over three decades in the United States. She is a dyslexia advocate and literacy consultant.

Michael Matos (USA)

Education Technology Director, ScaleLIT

Michael has been an instructor teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), ABE, and ASE for over 20 years and was a high school teacher for 10 years before that.

Navneet Anand (India)

Director, GreyMatters Communications & Consulting

Anand is a media and communications professional having worked for over 20 years in large media houses, academics and corporate sector. In 2010, he founded GreyMatters Communications & Consulting.

Nicolas Gravel (Canada)

Professor of Economics, Aix-Marseille University

Known as champion of girls' education, Aïcha Bah is a founding member of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). She is chair of the Network for Education for All in Africa (REPTA).

Nixon Joseph (India)

CEO, Children's LoveCastles Trust

Nixon comes to Children’s LoveCastles Trust India after a distinguished career in the banking and non-profit sectors. Most recently, Mr. Nixon served as President & Chief Operating Officer of SBI Foundation-the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) unit of State Bank of India & Deputy General Manager of SBI.

Peter Campling (USA)

Global Programmes Director, United World Schools

Peter works closely with our teams in Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal to deliver a high-quality, inclusive education to all of the children UWS supports. He is also responsible for introducing programmes into new countries.

Peter Kwasi Kodjie (Ghana)

Secretary-General, All Africa Student's Union

Peter is currently the Secretary-General of AASU, where he previously served as the Head of Research and Communications. He is one of the youngest persons to ever serve on the Board of the Ghana AIDS Commission.

Pradeep Kumar (India)

Director, India Programs and Partnerships, World Reader

Pradeep has been working in the Indian development sector for over 18 years, managing education, protection and humanitarian programs with grassroots, national and international NGOs both in rural and urban settings.

Rana Dajani (Jordan)

President, We Love Reading

Rana, a Ph.D. molecular cell biology from U of Iowa, is currently Cmalakova Fellow at the Jepson school of Leadership at the University of Richmond. She is founder of We Love Reading.

Ravi Sreedharan (India)

Founder and President, Indian School of Development Management

Ravi has worked for 24 years in the corporate sector, most of which was at HSBC where he was the Regional Marketing Head for Middle East and Africa. He quit his corporate career and switched to the social sector in 2011, joining Azim Premji Foundation.

Rebecca Zvomarima (Zimbawe)

Founding Director of Vadiwa Trust Organization

Rebecca is currently a teacher and School Director. She is the African coordinator for the World Climate School, and is heavily involved in climate change. She is also the founding director of Vadiwa Trust Organization that assists the elderly.

Richard Allen (USA)

Director of Partnerships, VOYCE

Richard is a recently retired public school Principal and Central Office Administrator. Serving learners, teachers, educators, and parents for more than 34 years, Richard finished his career by leading the first early college high school in NJ. Currently serving as the Director of Partnership with VOYCE.

Robert Thorn (Turkey)

Director, Developing Real Learners & Academy of Learner Development

Robert is an international educator and former principal with more than thirty years’ experience in various educational systems and cultural settings. He is a proponent of learner-development-centred approaches to education.

Samuel Sasu Adonteng (Uganda)

Programmes Officer for Tertiary Education, All-Africa Students Union

Samuel leads the Education and Students Rights Working Group at AASU. He is AASU’s primary contact to the UNESCO COVID-19 Global Education Coalition as well as the focal person for the Union at the Education Cannot Wait’s Youth Subgroup.

Shrutika Jadhav (India)

Manager, Philanthropic Advisory, Dasra

Driven with the strong belief that everyone deserves equal opportunities regardless of their background, Shrutika left her corporate job in search for something more meaningful. Her journey began in 2009 as a teacher in a low-income school where she worked closely with the community for two years.

Sigamoney Naicker (South Africa)

Professor, University of the Western Cape

Sigamoney was also a National Commissioner on the Committee for Education Support Services appointed by the then President, Nelson Mandela to investigate the state of Special Education during South Africa’s transition to a democracy.

Sigbjorn Dugal (Norway)

Founder, Pickatale

Sig has more then 20 years experience working with start-up initiatives and early stage companies in China. He now focuses mainly on companies in the EdTech sector. Sig is the founder of the Children reading platform Pickatale, aiming to disrupt the way kids learn to read and provide high quality reading material to children around the globe.

Stephen Peters (USA)

President, The Peters Group

Stephen is the CEO and president of the Peters Group, an education consulting company that is dedicated to creating and sustaining success in schools and districts by supporting educators. Key areas include: leadership, social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

Swati Popat Vats (India)

President, Podar Education Network

Swati, President of Podar Education Network, is a global educator with over 32 years of experience and holds many important positions in the field of early childhood education. She is the President of the Early Childhood Association of India.

Sylvia Guimarães (Brazil)

Co-Founder and president, Vaga Lume

Sylvia is an educator, co-founder and president at Vaga Lume, which promotes education and culture in rural communities in the Brazilian Amazon region, where it has established 82 community libraries in 20 municipalities.

Vaibhav Chauhan (India)

Senior Manager, HCL Foundation

Vaibhav is passionate about leading strategic projects for one of the biggest and most innovative development organizations in the world, looking to hear from people breaking through from the norm, and innovating models delivering impact.

Vicky Colbert (Colombia)

Founder and Director, Escuela Nueva Foundation

Laureate of the first edition of the Yidan Prize for Education Development (2017) and 2013 WISE Prize for Education Laureate, Vicky is founder and director of Escuela Nueva Foundation.

Yogesh Kumar (India)

Head of Operations, India, HCL Foundation

Yogesh has more than sixteen years in development sector, with wide experience of designing & implementing multi-sectoral projects. Core areas of experience include Education, Health, Agriculture & rural livelihood and green energy (Solar).

Yogesh Kumar, IAS (India)

Additional Commissioner, MGNREGA

Yogesh is an Indian Administrative Services officer. He is presently the Additional Commissioner of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Uttar Pradesh, India. Previously, he was posted as the District Magistrate of Banda and Amethi districts.

Our global reach extended through educator training in Malaysia and Zimbabwe and pilots with Literacy Chicago. We implemented ALfA in 155 schools in Unnao, across Himachal Pradesh and Solan, & actively participated in a Synergy Summit and health initiatives with Vision Spring Foundation.

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This was a big year for us, as we launched the Accelerating Learning for All program internationally, and started working at scale in Indian government schools.

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Our literacy survey of Lucknow district culminates in an Economic & Political Weekly journal article; plus the Each One Teach One campaign continues to grow.

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Read about our work promoting literacy in Lucknow and beyond, with a special focus on digital education in the face of the Covid pandemic.

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