From the founder.
Ambrish Chouksey on why Pratibha Foundation exists and where it is going.
Ambrish Chouksey
Founder, Pratibha Foundation
I grew up watching education change families. My father, the late Shri Suresh Kumar Chouksey, built colleges so that young people from ordinary homes in Madhya Pradesh could study close to where they lived. Pratibha Foundation carries the same belief outside the classroom: that a family moves forward when its women earn, its children learn and its elders are cared for.
We are a small organisation and we prefer to stay with one community for years. At Mendki we began with a training camp for a few dozen women who did zari work at home. Today more than 400 women are associated with a cluster that has its own centre, its own machines and orders from fashion brands. That is the kind of change I want this Foundation to be known for: work that people can see, visit and check.
My vision for the Foundation
Four areas of work, matching the objects for which the society was registered: livelihood, health, education and environment.
Livelihood for women
Every woman who wants to work should find skilled, dignified and regular work in or near her own village. We will grow the Mendki cluster with new skills, better machines, direct links to buyers and the women’s own products, and take the same model to other villages of Raisen.
Health care
Illness is the fastest way a poor family loses its savings. We hold medical and dental camps and health awareness programmes, and I want regular check-ups and women’s and children’s health to become a fixed part of our work in every community we serve.
Education
A child’s first classroom is the anganwadi. We have adopted two anganwadi centres in Bhopal and support children with books, slates and uniforms. My aim is that the children of every artisan we work with finish school, and that young people get vocational and digital skills that lead to a job.
Environment and welfare
Clean surroundings, trees and hygiene decide how healthy a village is. We will keep up plantation, hygiene education and awareness drives, and stand with elders, persons with disabilities and families in distress, as we did with ration and food during the lockdown.
Career
Ambrish Chouksey is an engineer, entrepreneur and educationist based in Bhopal. He brings to the Foundation what he has learnt from running institutions and a technology company: plan carefully, keep records and finish what is started.
- Education: Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Engineering (2002 to 2006).
- SKC LNCT Group of Colleges: Managing Director. The group, founded by his late father, runs 12 colleges in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Nathdwara.
- Daffodil Technologies (I) Pvt. Ltd.: Managing Director since 2010. An IT infrastructure and solutions company serving education and government institutions.
- LNCT Media Pvt. Ltd.: Director. Publisher of the LN Star newspaper.
- Pratibha Foundation: Founder. Implementing Agency of the all-women SFURTI cluster at Mendki, Raisen.
When a woman earns with dignity, her whole family moves forward.
I invite donors, companies and volunteers to come to Mendki, meet the women and decide for themselves.