Listen before designing
Every plan begins with community evidence and inconvenient questions.
Who we are
Built with communities.
Accountable to them.
Udaan is a network of local leaders, learners and partners who believe lasting progress starts with shared decisions.
94 communities · one shared standardOur belief
People closest to a challenge already hold essential knowledge.
Our job is not to arrive with a finished answer. It is to bring useful resources, listen carefully, share power and stay long enough for local systems to become stronger.
How we show up
Values you can
see in practice.
Not wall copy. Working rules used in budgets, hiring, partnerships and community reviews.
Share the decision
Local councils hold real authority over priorities, vendors and measures.
Publish the progress
Wins, misses, spend and learning are reported in plain language.
Build for handover
Success means community systems work without permanent outside control.
Thirteen years in motion
Started small.
Stayed close.
One listening circle
Udaan began with 28 women and one question: what would lasting change look like here?
Local leaders first
Every program moved to community-led councils and public progress boards.
Learning without walls
Neighbourhood learning kits reached 6,800 learners during school closures.
Ten-year evidence review
Independent research reshaped our water and livelihoods models.
54,280 lives, one network
Local partners now lead work across 94 communities and four states.
Leadership & governance
Different expertise.
Shared accountability.
Ananya Rao
Executive Director
Farah Sheikh
Community Partnerships
Leela Menon
Learning & Evidence
Kavita Jain
Board Chair
Your next move
Build with us, not around us.
Partners who value local evidence, honest learning and patient progress are welcome at the table.
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