Children's Day Celebrations

November 14th marked World Children's Day here in India, and LEaders from all over celebrated and gave back to the children in their communities in unique and loving ways.

Varanasi

On the occasion of children’s day, newly joined LEADers Kirti, Pritha, Deepak, Manish and Dheeraj (Faculty of Management & Sciences, Kashi Hindu University) touched 600+ students by organizing awareness sessions in schools of Varanasi, namely Glorious Academy and Sunbeam, Bhagwanpur. The LEADers addressed the students in the school assembly, and personally met with them to encourage them to bring a change in society. The emphasis of the encouragement was on cleanliness and hygiene for children of the today and the future, and to start this at a personal level. The schools’ administration were very supportive of the event, and the students showed a great response. As Leader Kirti, Pritha and team noes, "It was a memorable experience to share. We hope to see a brighter India in the future."

Bijapur

LEaders Altamash Qureshi, Khyum Hayatkhan and their team members of Kudachi celebrated Children's day with a twist. They planted 300 Saplings and they distributed pens and books to children. Teachers and staff members very much appreciated their initiative.

Chitradurga

On the occasion of Children's Day, LEAD Chitradurga LEADers Mamatha Nerlige, Giri Mallikarjun

Sarangmatt, Sahan Abblour, Vinay Hegde, and Venkat Cherry organized a free dental checkup for Govt. school children, with the help of SJM Dental College. They offered a free dental checkup, distributed toothbrushes and tooth paste, and also educated the children about ways to keep their mouths healthy,

by presenting a video clip.

Gulbarga

On the occasion of Children's Day Mr. Vikas Neel took the initiative to conduct a dental camp at Channamalleshwar High School. Mr. Vikas Neel, who is an active Leader in Gubarga, helped 600+ students in this camp.

Chitradurga LEADer Cleans Local Bus Stand and Demonstrates Amazing Collaboration Efforts

Inspired by the bus stand cleaning project led by LEADer Aarya Hallikeri from KLEIT, Hubli, Mamatha V. from SJMIT, Chitradurga, decided to lead her own bus stand cleaning project in Chitradurga.  But what sets her project apart from the other bus stand cleaning projects throughout other LEAD locations is the efforts she put into collaboration in order to ensure lasting impact.  Mamatha connected with resource persons such as Mr. Ikkeri (District Commissioner), Mr. Kanthraj (Municipal President), and Mr. Anand (Health inspector), Mr. Shiv Kumar (Principal JCB).  In addition, Mamatha acquired a vehicle to assist with garbage disposal as well as monetary and materialistic donations from the public.

In her project, Mamatha made a team of fellow students and painted the dirty walls of the bus stand, collected and disposed of the garbage that had littered the ground, met with nearby shopkeepers and encouraged them to do their part in keeping the bus stand clean.  She trained the municipal staff in how to maintain cleanliness, approached the government for the sanction of sign boards, and told private bus owners to educate their passengers regarding waste management. 

Mamatha's project is benefiting an estimated 5,000 people that move in and out of the bus stand every day.  She received an appreciation letter from the District Commissioner for her initiative.  Her project was showcased at Yuva Summit 2014.

Chitradurga LEADer Brings Street Lights, Improves Safety of Village

The village of Gonure, near Chitradurga, lacked street lights, thereby putting the physical safety of its 40  residents at risk.  LEADer Arunakumari from SJM Women's College, Chitradurga, utilized her LEAD platform to help these villagers.  After speaking the villagers and getting their support, she approached the PDO and the village President and convinced them to provide the village with streetlights.  Her project has helped the villagers of Gonure feel safer and has improved their way of life in the village.

Chitradurga LEADer Motivates 80 Students

LEADer Racha S from SJM Women's Arts College, Chitradurga, completed her project, Yuva Prerana.  In this informative session, she motivated the students and taught them important topics were covered such as how to success in small scale entrepreneurial activities, personal development, and social development.  80 students from her college benefited from her project.  Racha hopes to create a Youth Club in the future. 

Chitradurga LEADer Conducts English Orientation for 150 Students

A solid knowledge of English is important, but many students do not have this basic knowledge that they need to succeed.  LEADer Rekha from SJM Women's Art College wanted to improve the English skills of her fellow students.  She gave an introduction about English literature for 150 first-year BA students.  Rekha received positive feedback from the staff and the students.

Project: Awareness on Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming on Earth Day

Zeeshan Alam (SJMIT College, Chitradurga)

An increase in industrialization and reliance on modern technology has led to a high concentration of greenhouse gases thereby leading to global warming.  This phenomenon, known as the Greenhouse Effect, is severely affecting our planet.  Zeeshan wanted to educate the public and create more awareness for these issues.  With the permission of Dr. S. B. Shivakumar (Principal, SJMIT College, Chitradurga) and help from nine team members, Zeeshan conducted the World Earth Day Program.  The program consisted of a seminar and video presentation on the Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming.  Participants of the program also learned about the importance of buying products which do not include CFC's (CFC's increase the concentration of Greenhouse Gases).

Other members in Zeeshan's team included Nisar Ahamed, Rahul G.M., Nithin N V, Thirumala C, Shivananda Reddy, Chethan Kumar, Aishwarya P, Shubha G I, and Shruthi T.

2013 LEAD Chitradurga and Davangere Valedictory

The 2013 LEAD Chitradurga and Davangere Valedictory Function was held on April 27th, 2013, at Davangere University to commemorate 100 LEADers on their year-long efforts throughout the Chitradurga and Davangere regions.  This celebratory event attracted and unified over 250 students and their parents, as well as 10 faculty members, from throughout eight different colleges. 

Honorable guests included Mr. Naveen Jha (CEO, Deshpande Foundation), Smt S Indumati (Vice Chancellor, Davangere University), Dr. S Prakash (Registrar, Davangere University), Dr. B S Shiv Kumar (Principal, SJMIT College, Chitradurga), Professor Y Vrushabendrappa (Director, BIET College, Davangere), Dr. Rama Swamy (Principal, BIET College, Davangere), Professor Eshwarappa (Principal, DRM College), and Mr. H B Manjunath (Media Head, Davangere University).

The event began with an introduction by Mr. Ajay Suman Shukla (Team Leader, LEAD), who spoke about the tremendous growth and success that the LEAD program has experienced in the past five years since its inception. 

A few LEADers were given the opportunity to speak about how LEAD encouraged their personal growth and development. Chaitra of DRM Science College has implemented multiple projects with LEAD.  Chaitra told the audience that because of his active participation in the LEAD program, his "self confidence and communication skills have increased.".  Rakesh Kulkarni of BIET College, Davangere also noticed a drastic change in his communication skills thanks to the LEAD program, saying that "Before joining LEAD, I had trouble interacting with people, even my own friends.  Now I can interact with everybody."

Smt S Indumati (Vice Chancellor, Davangere University) presented a motivational speech about the importance of extending leadership outside of the LEAD program and projects.   She told the LEADers, "You have to care for your own society.  Try to educate people, try to make them learn...You should be the leaders of your family.  You should be the leaders of your mind.  You should be the leaders of your society."

Mr. Naveen Jha (CEO, Deshpande Foundation) inspired the LEADers by speaking about the power and potential of the youth to instigate positive change in India.  According to him, "There are 300 million youth in India right now.  The whole country is looking to us...We can rule the world because of our young population."

Special awards were then presented to various students and faculty members who demonstrated exceptional leadership, projects, and support.  The LEAD Chitradurga and Davangere Valedictory Function award categories and recipients are listed below:

Best Faculty Coordinator: Sri Shreedhar (Faculty, SJMIT College, Chitradurga)
Best Student Coordinator: Shivanand Reddy (SJMIT College, Chitradurga)
Best College Award: DRM Science College, Davangere (Award was accepted by Professor K S Eshwarappa)
Best Project Award: Deepa S (Chanukya College, Davangere)
Best LEADer Awards: Rakesh Kulkarni (BIET College, Davangere)
                                     Vinayak Kabade (GMIT College)
                                     Ajay Kumar (MSW Department, Davangere University)
                                     Shiv Kumar (MSW Department, Davangere University)
Most Improved LEADer Award: Pushpa A (GMIT College)

The Valedictory concluded with a special cultural program of skits and classical performances presented by students. 

The 2013 LEAD Chitradurga and Davengere Function honored not only the LEADers and their projects, but it also celebrated the power of youth, leadership, and initiative. 

Project: Human Detecting Robot

Sujith Mahadi (SJMIT, Chitradurga)

Sujith is creating a robot to be used during war and natural disasters.  The robot’s purpose will be to detect humans.  Additionally, the robot will be equipped with a camera that will provide live feed of what is happening when the robot is being used.  Sujith’s has been sponsored by Mahadi Yahama Motor Chitradurga.  

Chitradurga Leadership Camp

Deshpande Foundation's LEAD program had conducted the Leadership camp on 3rd & 4th of November in SJM Matha with the support of SJMIT Engineering College at Chitradurga. The main objective of this camp was to build excitement & leadership qualities among the students. Two days camp was full with lot of practical activities and individual/group assignments. In this camp we had more than 50 students who participated from different colleges including the Davangere University, BIET, and GMIT from Davangere, and SJMIT Engineering College from Chitradurga.

The event saw some exceptional people including Dr. Chitrashekar, Director SJM College, Dr. Shivakumar, Principal and Professor Shridhar, HOD from SJMIT made their guest presence. Mr. Ajay Suman Sukla, Mrs.Deepashree, Ms.Kavita Kawlagi, Ms.Geeta Hegde from LEAD were the facilitator for two day camp and made the camp a grand success. The two days camp was hosted by SJMIT, LEAD partnering college.

Basic Leadership Course July 2012

With the objective of training and invigorating existing LEADers from each LEAD location we initiated the three day Basic Leadership Course residential camp on 28^th July with 37 participants from Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Chikodi, Nidasoshi, Sirsi, Davangere, Chitrdurga, Bijapur and Gadag. The first day started with an induction program and a lot of team building activities where the participants got to know each other.  This was followed by a session on LEAD Ideology by Mr Ajay.  Participating leaders then undertook an exercise to develop a further understanding of LEAD’s role in the college and community, how it helps youth, and what they can achieve with this program. Later the sessions continued with one on Effective Communication by Ms Amber. Overall the day was packed with a lot of energy and excitement.

The second day of the course started with a reflection on lessons from the previous day where participants related their learning to practical examples. Ajay engaged the Effective Leadership session, where the students discussed and participated in activities analyzing who is a leader and what is true leadership. After lunch, Ms Misty continued the Effective Communication module with a focus on public speaking and self-presentation. In the evening the participants had lot of team building activities where they practiced team-work, coordination, decision-making and communication.  The second day ended with a lot of energy, fun & learning. At the night participants understood their real motivational style through a questionnaire. Ajay facilitated the characteristics of each; achievement, power, affiliation and extension motivation styles.

 

The Basic Leadership Course came to a successful end with 29 active participants. The last day started with a creativity session by Mr. Radhakrishna where the participants expressed themselves on paper using their creative talent. This was followed by Ajay’s session on how to confront the external and internal influences that occur in decision-making. Participants found that family has an important role to play and the main lesson was that an individual’s self-awareness is very important in making a decision or getting help from others. At the end of the last day, participants made their individual action plan for using this learning and developing further using LEAD as a platform. They also shared their thoughts about the leadership program. The training saw a diverse group of students from various backgrounds who at the end of the course emerged to be confident, excited and energized to lead their respective LEAD locations for LEAD Season 5.


Leadership Program 2012

LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 2012, Season 2 started with lots of energy and excitement on 6 July, 2012 with 29 students, representing the LEAD locations of Hubli, Belgaum, Chikkodi, Nidashoshi, Chitradurga and Laxmeshwar (Bangalore). The invigorating induction program conducted by Mr. Krishna roused enthusiasm with ice-breakers, games, introductions, and a creativity workshop.

The second day of the camp started with an Effective Communication workshop by Ms. Amber where participants engaged in verbal and non-verbal communication activities. Then it was time for the creativity class led by Mr. Krishna with participants making and presenting creative collages. This was followed by Effective Leadership by Mr. Ajay wherein the students participated in activities defining “leaders” and “leadership”. The day ended with creative presentations and critical feedback on presentation skills.

Day 3 started with participant reflections followed by the second session of Effective Communication where Ms. Misty discussed effective conversations, conversation etiquette, and networking. This was followed by a workshop on positive emotions by Mr. Shashidhar and the second phase of Innovative Leadership by Ms. Neeta and Mr. Ajay. For the first “Role Model” session, Mr. Vivek Pawar, CEO of Sankalpa Semiconductors, energized participants with his wonderful presentation on the "Process of Learning", teaching the leaders the four stages of learning and provoking an exciting question and answer session.

Students started the fourth day with reflections, after which they attended an IT session conducted by Mr. Charles and Mr. Krishna from the Tech4C team. This was followed by Ms. Misty and Ms. Amber’s session on effective presentation techniques. The Innovative Leadership session by Ms. Geeta and Ms. Kavita focused on understanding vision, and students conducted a blindfold and vision tree activity. Later Ms. Neeta and Mr. Amrut introduced the DAC (direction, alignment, commitment) model and discussed students’ goals and visions. Mr. Naveen Jha’s role model session on self-excitement and positivity inspired the students, who enthusiastically responded to his presentation with a lively discussion.

A sparkling Day 5 started with another IT session followed by one on patenting by Mr. Anup Vijapur. Guest speaker Mr. Sashisekar, CEO of Nanopix, had a very interactive session on entrepreneurial thinking and positivity as a key to success in life. Participants then presented to their peers and facilitators in Ms. Amber and Ms. Misty’s effective communication session. Mr. Sanjeev Kulkarni, founder of Balbalaga, conducted a meaningful Role Model session on the "Joy of Learning". Later that night participants interacted with Mr. Roshan Raykar, founder of Artashastra, and enjoyed his animation and design work.

Day 6 was filled with engaging site visits starting at 6am with a visit to “Akshay Patra Foundation”, the world’s biggest kitchen, where the participants saw the foundation’s engineering innovations. They then traveled to "Kalkeri Sangeeth Vidyalay" and were charged up seeing the confidence of the young musicians and performers. After interacting with Mr. Charan, participants donated a fund of INR 2200 to the "Anna Dan" initiative of KSV. At "Bala Balaga" the school with a difference, participants saw how every element in the school was creatively designed and were amazed and motivated to see confident students interacting with them enthusiastically. At "The Agastya International Foundation", a hub of science experiments, innovation and creativity, participants interacted and got to experiment with the new concepts that the young children had designed and developed, sparking their curiosity and creativity. The participants ended the day with a visit to Elveety Industry (Parle Pvt Ltd) at Gokul road. Participants were energized by the visits, and Nandini, one of the participants, commented: "The practical exposure really helped me to understand the practical procedures and techniques as this was the first time I was visiting the enterprises I was really excited to know about them".

On Day 7, "Mismatch Day"; students embodied creativity, surprising DF members with their colorful hand-crafted costumes assembled for the day. Students transitioned from fashion expression to verbal expression with a reflection session on student presentations and ways to prepare and execute an effective presentation by Ms. Amber and Ms. Misty. Later, students partook in exciting team building activities that fortified team dynamics among the participants. This was followed by a debating session on "Reservation and Caste system" where students passionately defended their opinions, putting into practice their effective communication skills.  The day's excitement continued with the session "Connect the Dots" by active LEADer Deepak Giriyapur where students engaged in conversation with the Master Leader about his experiences.

Day 8 started with a Role Model Session by Mrs. Neelam where she discussed with the participants how to develop and fulfill their aspirations. Next, Mrs. Annie presented some helpful tips on resume writing. This was followed by an effective communication session presented by Mr. Rajesh where he discussed theories of communication. Mr. Sikandar, CEO of Sankalpa Rural Development Society, gave a guest speaker session about his personal and professional development. Mr. Vinod inspired the students with his talk "Pirates to Positivity" about developing a positive attitude.

Day 9 started with an exciting self-realization session by Mr. Vinod and student reflections. Participants were then divided into teams to begin planning for the leadership activity. Mr. Prashant conducted an informative session on RTI (Right to Information) which sparked curiosity in the students as to how to use this powerful tool to seek information from the government. Lastly, the day ended with an enthusiastic panel session with Mrs. Shravani (CEO Safehands), Mr. Gaurav Shah, (Partner Seven Beans), Mr. Roshan Raykar (Founder Artashastra Creative Studio),  Mrs. Prafulla Puranik (Branch Manager ICICI, Hubli).

Day 10’s early morning creativity session lets participants display their best creative capabilities on paper using paints and crayons. This was followed by an inspiring and interactive guest session with Mr. Pushparaj Mahanty, General Manger, Clarks Inn. In the afternoon, participants set out to make a difference in the lives of the Kalkeri Sangeeth Vidyalaya students by conducting a fund and resources collecting campaign. Covering many houses near Vidya Nagar, Deshpande Nagar,  Banashankari layout, Akki Honda, Janta bazaar, this successful drive demonstrated the skills learnt in the leadership program and resulted in a collection of Rs. 5000 in Cash and 100 kg's of rice and other materials. These leaders’ efforts proved that "Where there is a will, there is a way".

 

In the short span of 10 days, we saw a lot of personal development in all 29 participants who embraced the program with vigor and energy. We are happy with the overwhelming results and response we have seen during the course of the camp. The very exciting topical sessions, the powerful role models and the inspiring site visits sparked the participant’s imagination and enthusiasm. 

6-16 Jan 2012 LEAD Prayana

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An initiative of LEAD, Prayana is a 10-day journey of Karnataka to unleash students' leadership potential. One hundred talented participants, ages 18 - 25, are taken to 9 destinations - Hubli, Sirsi, Manipal, Dharmasthala, Mysore, Bangalore, Chitradurga, Hampi and Bijapur. 

In the upcoming 2012 LEAD Prayana, students will have the opportunity to meet celebrated Indian leaders in the Inspirom Series. Last year such personalities included,  Kiran Bedi, India's first and highest ranking female officer in the Indian Police Service, social activist and TV personality; Gururaj Deshpande, entrepreneur and chairman of Sparta Group LLC, A123 Systems, Sycamore and Tejas Networks, and founder of the Deshpande Foundation; Ramji Raghavan, founder of Agastya International Foundation; Prasanna, founder of DESI and designer of national repute; Veerendra Heggade, a leader, philanthropist and educator; and L. Narayan Reddy, an innovative organic farmer and contributor of LEIS magazine. 

Visit the  LEAD Prayana website for more information.