KickStart Girls (KSG) is a transformative initiative by the Mann Deshi Foundation designed to empower youth, especially young women from underserved communities to become confident, financially independent, and career-ready.
Our aims
To empower young rural women to become financially independent and self-reliant
To build confidence, agency, and decision-making ability for themselves
To equip youth with financial, digital, and life skills for real-world career readiness
To bridge the gap between education and employment opportunities
To promote financial inclusion through savings, door step banking, and digital tools
To reduce barriers like mobility, access, early motherhood and early dropouts
To make boys and young men allies in women empowerment
KickStart Girls (KSG) is a transformative initiative by the Mann Deshi Foundation designed to empower youth, especially young women from underserved communities to become confident, financially independent, and career-ready.
KickStart Girls caters to youth, especially rural girls aged 14 and above, taking a holistic approach to development, combining financial and digital literacy, life skills, financial inclusion, career readiness, and leadership training. Through a mix of career readiness training, school-based projects, youth-led initiatives, and community engagement, the program supports young women as they transition from education to employment.
At its core, KickStart Girls is about expanding aspirations & building agency. Whether it is a girl opening her first bank account, leading a community workshop, securing her first job, or starting her own business, the program ensures that every participant is equipped not just with skills, but with the confidence to shape her own future.
Our projects
Youth Lab
Youth Lab is a dynamic learning initiative under KickStart Girls that equips rural adolescents and young people with practical skills for everyday life and the world of work. Through interactive Financial & Digital Literacy workshops, young people learn to manage money, navigate digital spaces safely, and make informed financial decisions. Workplace 101, our employment-readiness crash course, prepares youth with essential skills and confidence to take their first steps into the job market.
School Bank Project
The School Bank Project is an innovative Financial Inclusion initiative that introduces school-going children to the world of saving, banking, and financial responsibility at an early age. Through student-led mini banks, children are encouraged to save small amounts regularly, develop budgeting habits, and understand formal banking systems. These school banks are managed by trained girl student leaders in the roles of a bank manager, cashier, bank sakhi and clerk, fostering ownership, leadership, and teamwork from a young age.
KickStart Girls Fellowship
The KickStart Girls Fellowship is an intensive, cohort-based program designed to support young women graduates in their transition from education to formal employment, entrepreneurship, and independent decision-making. The fellowship provides structured, hands-on learning through a combination of sessions from a set curriculum, guest lectures, workshops, mentorship, and real-world exposure visits. The fellowship also provides a monthly stipend, ensuring that financial constraints do not limit participation while reinforcing practical lessons in budgeting and money management. A dedicated month-long external internship in urban cities enables fellows to apply classroom learning in real-world settings, build professional exposure, and strengthen their CVs. Through these experiences, the program also connects young women to wider professional networks, opening doors to future opportunities and career pathways.
Nayi Soch
Nayi Soch is a youth-led media initiative under KickStart Girls, hosted on Mann Deshi Tarang Vahini community radio. Designed as a dedicated youth vertical, the program creates a platform where young people take the lead in producing and hosting radio content, amplifying their voices and perspectives and shaping youth advocacy. Through bi-weekly broadcasts, Nayi Soch brings together young voices for group discussions, awareness-building conversations, and storytelling rooted in real experiences. The platform encourages self-expression, whether through poetry, personal narratives, or reflections while also creating space for dialogue on critical social issues.
Freedom On Wheels
Freedom on Wheels is a mobility-focused initiative aimed at improving access to education for young girls facing long and challenging daily commutes. Launched in 2002, the program was designed to address a critical barrier to education that is distance which often led to fatigue, irregular attendance, and school dropouts. The initiative provides bicycles to students, especially girls, who travel over 7+ kilometers each day to attend school. Long travel distances not only impact punctuality and classroom engagement but also increase the risk of early dropouts and, in many cases, early marriage. By enabling safe, independent, and time-efficient travel, this initiative helps girls stay in school and continue their education with dignity and confidence.
Youth Lab
Youth Lab is a dynamic learning initiative under KickStart Girls that equips rural adolescents and young people with practical skills for everyday life and the world of work through Financial & Digital Literacy workshops and Workplace 101.
School Bank Project
The School Bank Project introduces school-going children to saving and banking through student-led mini banks managed by trained girl student leaders in roles like bank manager, cashier, bank sakhi, and clerk.
KickStart Girls Fellowship
An intensive cohort-based program supporting young women graduates transition into employment through curriculum sessions, guest lectures, mentorship, monthly stipends, and month-long urban internships.
Nayi Soch
A youth-led media initiative hosted on Mann Deshi Tarang Vahini community radio, enabling young people to produce and host bi-weekly broadcasts, poetry, and conversations on critical social issues.
Freedom On Wheels
A mobility-focused initiative providing bicycles to girls traveling 7+ km daily to school, reducing commute fatigue, irregular attendance, dropouts, and early marriage risks.
KickStart Girls (KSG) is a transformative initiative by the Mann Deshi Foundation designed to empower youth, especially young women from underserved communities to become confident, financially independent, and career-ready.
IMPACT NUMBERS
(As of August 2026)
6,460+
youth empowered through KickStart Girls Programme, of which approximately 80% are girls
2,455+
youth trained in financial & digital literacy through 240+ workshops under the Youth Lab project
139
radio shows produced by young women under Nayi Soch
690
adolescents opened bank accounts through the School Bank Project
2,713+
young girls trained through 64 skill development workshops
34
fellows from Cohort 1 & 2 graduated from the Fellowship, with 8 securing employment as of August 2026.
172
bicycles distributed under the Freedom on Wheels project to improve school access, reduce travel barriers, and prevent early dropouts
Meet Jaywanti Devidas Bhoye
Jaywanti always dreamed big and her dreams were fulfilled after attending Mann Deshis Business Schools and learnt how to market, customer interaction, and packaging a product.
Read More
Meet Sushama Chaudhary
Sushma started from a food stall to a tiffin service and now after attending the MBA programme finally started a stall that became famous in her home town.
Read More
Meet Sangeeta Pawar
Sangeeta Pawar of Sinnar village in Nashik district, is a skilled artisan who creates intricately designed traditional handwoven paithani saris.
Read More
Meet Rohini Garud
Rohini visiting the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, learned about various agri-workshops that the Foundation offered and now has become self sufficient to manage her business single-handedly.
Read More
Next
Previous
