Rashmi Misra's mission: Educate, empower and transform

More than four decades ago, Rashmi Misra experienced something that deeply moved her, which cemented a lifelong commitment to education.

- Pooja Patel

Her husband, then a professor at IIT Delhi, and she lived on the institute’s campus which was separated from ‘real life’ by a wall. Beyond the wall lay a slum area with a stagnant pool of dirty water where little girls often played. One day, she asked them why they weren't in school, to which one of the girls replied, “Don't you know girls don't go to school?” Misra asked if they wanted to study, and the girl responded, “Nobody’s going to teach us, we're girls.”

That moment changed everything for her. Misra invited the girls home and began teaching them herself, and since then, she hasn't looked back. “Opportunity is the greatest thing we can give them,” said Misra, who started VIDYA in 1985. For 40 years, her NGO has been working to empower children, youth, and women through education and skill development.