KickStart Girls

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.

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

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

Hear from our student leaders at Mohi School Bank

At Kanya Vidyalay, Mohi, we are proud to run our School Bank. As the Bank Manager, Cashier, Clerk, and Bank Sakhi, we record deposits, guide our classmates, and encourage them to save, even if it’s just ₹2 or ₹5 a day.

We have seen how financial struggles can make some students give up their education. When we run the bank, we feel like we are doing something to change that. Small savings can help with school fees or study materials, and we want more students to experience that security.

When Courage Meets Opportunity: Mansini’s STEM Journey

When I first joined KickStart Girls, I was bright and full of potential, but often held back by self-doubt and limited exposure. Through skill-building workshops, leadership sessions, and personality development training, I developed my confidence, communication, and decision-making skills. This programme gave me the courage to dream bigger.

Today, I am pursuing my first year of Physiotherapy at a government college in Pune, a field I once never imagined entering. KickStart Girls helped me turn my self-doubt into self-belief and my aspirations into action.

Shraddha Shinde’s Journey: From Passion to Enterprise

I have always loved art and craft, and KickStart Girls gave me the opportunity to turn my passion into something more. With the support and guidance of the KickStart Girls team, I started my own small business selling handmade paintings and craft products. What began as a hobby is now becoming a source of income and a step towards financial independence.

I also conduct creative workshops for younger girls, encouraging them to explore their own talents. Through KickStart Girls, I have received opportunities to showcase my work at urban stalls and have also been onboarded onto ONDC, helping me reach a wider market. Today, while pursuing my second year of college, I am balancing my studies with my business and working towards building a more independent future.

Meet Madhavi Lokhande

Madhavi Lokhande grew up in Mhaswad, Maharashtra, in a farming family from a Dalit community where girls’ education is often limited and early marriage is common. Determined to change this narrative, she completed her Bachelor of Arts from SBR College, challenging long-standing social norms.

In 2023, Madhavi joined the KickStart Girls program as a motivated learner and formally became a Fellow in May 2025. The fellowship marked many firsts for her such as using a laptop, traveling to Mumbai, and experiencing a professional workplace. Today, Madhavi is working as a Sales Officer at RBL Bank in Pune. Her journey from a rural village to formal employment highlights how the KickStart Girls Fellowship enables young women to build confidence, skills, and dignified careers.

To learn more about how our programmes make a difference read our Stories of Change.