WHY INDIA

India is not only the birthplace of our mission, it is the birthplace of our founders, trustees, and supporters. Mrs. Indu Rawat, the Trustee of RIST, was raised in Uttarakhand and is active in philanthropic work across the country. She has directly inspired our Healthcare, Disability, and Education efforts and is especially passionate about women's empowerment.

With the population of 1.3 billion, India is the second most populous country in the world, after China

60% of the population lives below $3.10 a day, the World Bank’s median poverty line

21% of the population lives below $2.00 a day

1 in 5 Indian is poor

62% of India’s poor live in 7 states

Low income states are home to 45% of India’s population

70% of India lives in Villages

30 percent on the cities, a figure likely go up to 50% by 2030

35% of Indians cannot read and write; illiteracy is higher for the poor. 45% of India’s poor are illiterate

80% of India’s poor live in rural areas

21% of poor have access to latrines

6% of poor have access to drinking water

39 children per 1000 live births will die under the age of 5

Manoj Bhargava, RIST’s early supporter, was also born in India. Our efforts in Emergency Response and Environment are driven by Manoj’s belief that those with wealth have a duty to serve those with less. Our roots in India have shaped our vision, our efforts, and our mission.

FOCUS AREAS

HEALTH

Rural India Supporting Trust and our partners work across India to ensure that health care services are accessible to all communities in India.

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EDUCATION

RIST grants support activities that ensure that all children in India have access to quality education. RIST is working to increase the availability of STEM and Health/Nutrition educational programming for all children throughout India.

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DISABILITY

RIST believes that all people with disabilities deserve to be treated equitably and with respect. Everyone should have the opportunity to live a life full of freedom and inclusivity. Our grants support Partners that work towards achieving this for people with disabilities in India.

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ENVIRONMENT

Environmental degradation is a worldwide concern that has many causes. RIST efforts are geared towards reducing the negative health effects of air and water pollution, while also looking further to protect the flora and fauna that share this amazing planet with us.

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE

During times of crisis RIST will work through a variety of Partners to assist. Natural disasters and public health emergencies can have a multiplied effect on those already dealing with issues related to poverty. RIST assesses each disaster and applies its support through specialized organizations that respond to emergencies as a part of their mandate.

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HEALTH

Rural India Supporting Trust and our partners work across India to ensure that health care services are accessible to all communities in India.

LEARN MORE

EDUCATION

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DISABILITY

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ENVIRONMENT

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE

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OUR APPROACH

We partner with value aligned publicly supported organizations to achieve scale and larger impact of projects.

Planning

We assess potential partners through a multi-step application process. We, thereafter, create a plan of action based on community needs and mission alignment.

Implementation

We engage local leaders and community members to expand our reach. We develop goal-oriented timelines for our partners to ensure success.

Monitoring and Evaluation

We continually assess the performance of our programs by requiring a strict monitoring, evaluation and learning protocol for all grants. Our Partners must have a detailed plan of action on how and what they will collect data on. RIST’s partnerships involve open and transparent communication around project performance and we are vested in ensuring our grant funds are used wisely.

Post-Implementation

Once a program has been completed, RIST has the opportunity to learn from the experience. There are a number of questions that we must ask ourselves…to understand if continued effort in any particular area is of a greater benefit. RIST will begin again, assessing, communicating and learning, in partnership with communities, government, organizations; any and all stakeholders that can contribute in allowing us to reach our goal…taking one more step closer to an equitable and inclusive India.

OUR IMPACT

We are committed to funding projects that have a positive impact on our 5 areas of focus. Below is the breakdown of our funding per area of focus since 2015:

$11,381,818

$7,530,132

$4,350,029

$2,223,011

$1,498,081

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TESTIMONIALS

Humana People to People India

The first partnership between RIST and Humana People to People India (HPPI) started in 2018 with the Kadam+(UP) project, which enabled children to close their learning gaps and to enroll in their age-appropriate grades in a government primary school. The second partnership between RIST and HPPI started in 2020 with the Kadam+ (UP25) project. Through this project, HPPI seeks to achieve the goal of achieving impact at scale in the public schooling system by 2025 by targeting the middle and lower levels of the schooling system. The Kadam+ (UP25) project aims to produce positive results at various levels of the schooling system that will establish a robust case study to replicate and scale the Kadam+ intervention model. The project is expected to engage 20,400 teachers and 361,200 children during the life of the project until 2025.
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— Snorre Westgaard, CEO

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is very happy to be partners with the Rural India Supporting Trust. With support from RIST, we are restoring forests alongside India’s River Narmada. TNC is guiding the community-led restoration of lands along this river that is the lifeline of Central India. Starting with 250 hectares, we are uniting farmers, villagers, and the government in landscape restoration, native tree planting, and environmental education. Our efforts support the livelihoods of vulnerable populations as the river begins to return to health for fishing, crops, and water supplies.
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— Aditya Gangadharan, Program Lead-Lands, The Nature Conservancy India

Partnerships for Change

In the midst of pandemic-induced starvation, RIST’s generous support enabled PFC to distribute 30,000 grocery and nutritional kits to slum dwellers, tribal families, and underserved communities across South India. The surge of COVID-19 brought unemployment, lockdowns, and limited government aid for many of these rural populations, leaving them with little hope for survival. However, RIST’s timely contributions kindled hope in their hearts, supplying thousands of families with food and nutritional necessities. Additionally, 1,300 kids receive daily nutrition for three months as of November 2021. While collaborating to prevent starvation, PFC identified further issues that harm these underserved communities. RIST’s partnership empowers PFC to proactively tackle these issues in future projects, working together to uplift India’s rural populations.
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— Jacqueline Miller, Founder and CEO

Action Against Hunger

The surge in COVID-19 cases has greatly impacted the national healthcare system in India. During the peak of the pandemic, there had been an acute shortage in the number of beds available for patients, supply chains for medicine and oxygen had collapsed, and healthcare professionals were contracting the virus themselves. RIST and Action Against Hunger, India is working together to make sure government health facilities receive the appropriate medical equipment as per their requirements and the beneficiary households in the communities are equipped with the resources and skills to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 through distribution of food baskets and home care kits, and counseling them on home-based care and vaccinations in the project locations of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
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— Tyler Hudacek, Manager, Fundraising and Partnerships

Banyan

The Banyan-RIST collaboration seeks to scale up initiatives that attempt to reformulate tertiary mental health care and support definitive, sustainable pathways for community inclusion of people with mental health issues in India (in particular in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala). The values and principles that underpin this collaboration between The Banyan and RIST are those of promoting social justice and inclusion, fostering personal recovery, and promotion of individual capabilities. The primary approach being supported, Home Again (HA), is a housing with supportive services approach that offers people living with mental illness the opportunity to live in rented, shared homes in the community with bespoke supports delivered through personal assistants for health, socialization, economic transactions, work, leisure and pursuits with personal meaning.
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— Akila Srikanth

Keystone

RIST and Keystone share a passion and commitment to creating a world where everyone, including people with disability, hold a valued and meaningful place within society. We work together with organizations and leaders across India to share potent and powerful ideas that facilitate inclusive mindsets and actions, identify and support a generation of change agents, and translate vision into action. Since 2015, RIST and Keystone together are creating opportunities to assist institutionalized persons to return to their communities, help families reconnect in supportive ways, and develop new social forms that prevent the segregation and isolation of all people, but especially those with psychosocial and developmental disabilities.

— Elizabeth Neuville, Executive Director

Museum of Art and Photography

RIST is one of the Museum of Art and Photography’s core and most valued donors. As one of our Founding Patrons, RIST joined the museum at a critical stage, when the building was still under construction, and fully embraced and trusted MAP's vision. We are delighted to partner with RIST in realizing our shared vision for making the arts accessible to all.

— Abhishek Poddar, Founder & Trustee