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A group of children in bright clothes smiling together

About us

That belief hasn't changed: people don't need saving. They need a fair chance — and someone willing to stay.

Our story

In 2011, Dr. Meera Krishnan — then a paediatrician at a city hospital — spent a weekend in Wadgaon, a village three hours from Pune. A child she examined had been coughing for four months. Nobody had taken him to a doctor because the nearest one was 22 kilometres away and a day's wages.

She came back the next Saturday, with two friends and a borrowed jeep. And the next. And the next. Within a year, the weekly clinic was seeing 200 patients. Within two, parents were asking for a place their children could study after school.

That is how Umeed Foundation has always grown: not by deciding what a community needs, but by listening when it tells us. Umeed means hope. We chose it because hope was what we saw in every village — long before we arrived.

Many hands holding a red heart together

Our mission

To ensure every person has the opportunity to live with dignity.

We partner with underserved communities across India to build long-term, community-led programmes in education, healthcare, nutrition and livelihoods — so that opportunity is no longer an accident of where you were born.

Our vision

An India where no child's future depends on their postcode.

Where every village has a school that stays open, a clinic that shows up, food on the table and women with an income of their own. Where we, eventually, are no longer needed.

Our values

01

Dignity first

We never photograph, publish or plan anything a community would not choose for itself.

02

Stay for years

Real change is slow. We commit to a community for a minimum of seven years.

03

Local leadership

Every programme is run by people from the community it serves.

04

Radical transparency

Every rupee is audited, published and traceable to the work it funded.

05

Measure what matters

We track outcomes — a child in college, a mother earning — not just outputs.

06

Joy is allowed

Serious work doesn't have to be joyless. Our best ideas come from laughter.

Sunlight streaming through the canopy of an old banyan tree

Like a banyan, real change grows slowly, roots deeply, and shelters everyone.

— Dr. Meera Krishnan, Founder

Our team

Most of our 140 staff come from the communities we serve. These are a few of the people who lead the work.

Portrait of a woman with curly hair

Meera Krishnan

Founder & Executive Director

A former paediatrician who started Umeed with a single mobile clinic in 2011.

Portrait of a man in a blazer

Arvind Sharma

Director, Programmes

Twenty years in rural development, from Rajasthan to the Northeast.

Portrait of a woman in a white blouse

Nadia Fernandes

Head of Education

Built the bridge-school curriculum now used across all 38 learning centres.

Portrait of a man in a suit

Vikram Iyer

Chief Financial Officer

Chartered accountant who believes every rupee should be traceable to a life.

Portrait of a woman in red

Dr. Sana Qureshi

Head of Health Programmes

Leads the mobile clinic network and the community health worker corps.

Portrait of a young man

Rahul Nair

Head of Partnerships

Connects corporate, institutional and individual donors to the work on the ground.

Portrait of a laughing woman

Lata Bhosale

Women's Livelihoods Lead

Started as a self-help group member in 2014. Now runs the programme.

Portrait of a woman in a patterned blouse

Grace Thomas

Volunteer Engagement

Keeps 500+ volunteers trained, safe and inspired.

Our journey

  1. 2011

    One clinic, one village

    Dr. Meera Krishnan begins weekly health camps in Wadgaon with two volunteers and a borrowed jeep.

    A health camp check-up

  2. 2013

    The first learning centre

    Parents ask for a place their children can study after school. The first Umeed learning centre opens in a rented room.

    A village classroom

  3. 2016

    Women lead the way

    The first self-help groups form. Within a year, twelve groups manage their own savings and lending.

    A women's collective meeting

  4. 2020

    Showing up in a crisis

    During the pandemic, volunteers deliver 40,000 ration kits and keep every learning centre running by phone.

    Relief supplies being unloaded

  5. 2023

    500 volunteers strong

    Umeed crosses 25 communities across 7 states, powered by a volunteer network of over 500 people.

    A volunteer team

  6. 2026

    Building for the next decade

    A five-year plan to reach 100 communities — with local leadership at the centre of every one.

    Community members gardening together

Our impact

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Lives touched

children, women and families supported since 2011

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Communities supported

across 7 states in India

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Volunteers

giving their weekends, skills and hearts

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Years of service

of showing up, every single day

A group of children smiling up at the camera

Donate now

Every gift — however small — becomes a meal, a lesson, a check-up, a chance. Join the thousands of people who make this work possible.

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