YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities

Lighthouse Communities is committed to solving the problems faced by disadvantaged youth who are not in education or employment by addressing their employability. These youth experience a social, economic and digital divide that constrains their aspirations. The Lighthouse program facilitates their human and economic development by enabling disadvantaged youth to enhance their employability and move towards gainful and sustainable livelihoods. A key challenge to employability is the availability of high quality vocational training aligned with industry needs. The YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities platform will provide life skills and industry aligned vocational training to disadvantaged youth, irrespective of their location, background, language, educational qualifications and other constraints. The YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities platform is structured as a hybrid hub and spoke solution, deploying a network infrastructure. The solution will use synchronous and asynchronous learning methodologies with connectivity through audio and video. AI, BOTs for self-learning and predictive analytics will enable higher learning outcomes.

India is a country facing a high shortage of skilled workforce. India has 468 million people in its workforce, of which 92% are in the informal sector. Only 2% have had formal vocational training and only 9% have had non-formal, vocational training. 1.25 million new workers (aged 15-29) are projected to join the workforce every month, through 2022. (Source NCAER report). 81% of youth are employed in the informal economy with low wages, no savings, job security and health benefits. The female labour force participation rate in India is one of the lowest in the world - 16% (2020). Young girls are more likely to drop-out of school, are married at an early age and are responsible for unpaid care work. Women sacrifice education opportunities, their chance to work, be financially independent and have careers to meet family needs and safety considerations. 

There is a skilling and employment paradox in India where industry is facing an acute shortage of skilled manpower and India has millions of its citizens who are unemployed. A key reason for this paradox is the misalignment of skilling programs with the needs of the market,  learning challenges faced by youth and their limited aspirations. The transition to economic activity marks an important phase in the lives of youth who are the productive workforce of the country. For millions of disadvantaged youth who come from low-income communities, unemployment due to a lack of skills restricts their chances to change their circumstances and their lives.

Lighthouse Communities is focussing on disadvantaged youth (18-30 years) from urban slums and low income communities as its target population. These youth are socially and and economically disadvantaged, school-drop-outs and face frequent challenges related to livelihood and survival. These youth are born in the context of poverty, deprivation and discrimination which leads to a sense of helplessness and self-limiting beliefs. In this context of constraints, the sense of worthlessness not just prevails but prevents youth from taking any steps that will bring them out of this context. There is a significant mismatch in their aspirations and the market reality of available employment opportunities. Youth need to overcome market, societal and personal barriers to move towards gainful and sustained employment. Most vocational skilling programs fall short due to weak program design that ignores this context. Lighthouse Communities has been implementing the Lighthouse Sustainable Livelihoods program for the last 6 years. Our work with over 15000 youth has resulted in a deep understanding of their skill level challenges and learning styles. Therefore, learner-centric pedagogy is the foundation of all vocational skilling courses resulting in information retention, application of learning and enhanced employability. The vocational skilling courses are aligned to the needs of the job market and placement opportunities. Thus, bridging the gap between industry requirements and workplace readiness of disadvantaged youth. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in younger workers experiencing higher job losses and weaker recovery. 33% of young workers failed to recover their employment (Azim Premji University report). Disadvantaged youth who are living through the pandemic and coming of age in a post-COVID world require support to overcome the effects of this crisis. The YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities program aims to equip young people with the vocational skills required to operate effectively in this world. The program consists of two phases; Phase 1 is centred on life skills, agency and digital empowerment while Phase 2 focusses on vocational training aligned to industry demands. The objective is to not just build skills for current employability but also future-proof skills for the world of work. Building agency in youth is critical to help them cope with the needs of the present and adapt to the demands of the future. In the YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities program, youth undergo a 50 hour agency building course resulting in a positive shift in self-image and the ability to drive change for themselves. They also undergo a 20 hour Digital Empowerment program which equips them to function effectively in a digital-centric world. This includes the ability to self-learn and navigate the online world resulting in not just digitally literate, but digitally empowered youth. The program inculcates social, emotional, digital, vocational and self-learning skills that will help youth continually adapt to new ways of working and thrive in the future world of work. 

Ruchi Mathur, CEO.  Ruchi is an IIM Ahmedabad graduate with 25 years of work experience, spanning both the corporate and the non-profit sector. Ruchi is a Business Today Awardee 2017 in the Social Impact category and is passionate about enabling large scale social impact through agency in individuals and communities.

The vocational skills landscape for disadvantaged youth from low income communities is disconnected. There is a wide disparity in the quality and future readiness of skilling solutions across different urban locations in India. Youth from urban low income communities lack the knowledge and ability to choose a skilling program that meets their aptitude and aspirations, with an alignment to industry requirements. The YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities platform will provide a solution that will cut across these challenges through an innovative blend of a hybrid learning approach, market-ready skilling courses in different Indian languages, underpinned by youth centric learning pedagogies. The program will enable positive impact from other solution providers in this space through collaborations for specialised skills development, technological skilling and integration of collective efforts. 

The project will develop comprehensive content and blended learning pedagogies to make the courses available to learners and livelihood seekers in smaller towns where the expertise to deliver the courses may not be available locally. Since the project involves courses delivered in a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning formats, with pre-requisite and reinforcement learning provided as video content administered by local facilitators, produced centrally and delivered locally and core content as well as remedial learning delivered interactively by a central trainer through synchronous learning technologies, we expect to design the system using the following technologies: 

• Connectivity through the National Optic Fibre Network that the Government of India is making available in all parts of the country culminating in 250,000 rural “Panchayat” end points. 
• Ability to download video content for flipped classes even with low bandwidth in an asynchronous fashion.
• Connectivity through audio and video technologies in a hub and spoke manner and design of interactive classrooms for one to many interactive teaching.
• Artificial intelligence to guide the trainer to low attention students as well as weaker students who are not following the course.
• AI BOTs for Self Learning in reinforcement mode.
• Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics for central trainers as well as local facilitators to enable better course outcomes.

Lighthouse Communities Foundation aims to impact 1 million disadvantaged youth by 2030, of which 4.39 million will be reached in the next 5 years and 75000 in the next 1 year. Currently, the Lighthouse program for sustainable livelihoods is operational in Maharashtra state and will launch in Delhi and Odisha in Q1 2022. Over  the next 5 years, the program will be extended to an additional 5 states/cities with the YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities platform implemented in all locations. The main pathway to these impact goals is a combination of depth and scale where the Lighthouse program will focus on depth and a separate Community Youth Connect program will focus on scale. A Community Connect Centre is a small, physical centre located within a slum community that will provide career guidance and access to information on skilling and job opportunities to disadvantaged youth. Youth who are struggling with fears, addiction, who are school drop-out and have no guidance or support will be directed towards the Lighthouse.  The YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities skilling platform will be positioned at the intersection of depth and scale and will be accessible by disadvantaged youth across all locations. 

The indicators used to measure progress are: 

• No. of disadvantaged youth enrolled in the Lighthouse and Community Youth Connect program,  disaggregated by gender. 
• No. of disadvantaged youth completing the Foundational Skilling course: agency building, digital empowerment  disaggregated by gender.  
• No. of youth undergoing career counselling. 
• No. of youth enrolling for vocational skilling
• No. of youth completing vocational skilling. 
• No. of youth placed in jobs/self-employment. 
• No. of youth continuing in jobs/self-employment after 1 year. 

A key barrier to accomplishing our goals is the lack of financial resources to invest in designing the YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities platform to be the best in the market and fully aligned to youth and industry needs. In addition, adaptation to Indian regional languages and contexts and the changing socio-economic and political landscape are some of the other barriers that may limit our impact. 

Financial: Lighthouse Communities Foundation is implementing a focussed resource mobilisation strategy targeted at raising funds from  Corporate Social Responsibility and Foundations, Indian and international. 

Other barriers: Lighthouse Communities Foundation will partner with regional language experts to ensure that the adaptation is not a mere translation of content but a design version that aligns with the context of different regions. A detailed landscape analysis will be done before implementing the program in new regions to understand the socio-economic, political situation and design the program accordingly. 

Full time: 95

Part time: 28 

The team is a diverse mix of people from different educational backgrounds, work experiences and socio-economic profiles. Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman is Executive Chairman and Founder of 5F World, a platform for Skills, Start-ups and Social Ventures in India. Ganesh has two significant corporate success stories to his credit - APTECH a global training major which he led for ten years and Zensar Technologies, a global software success story which he led as its Vice Chairman & CEO till early 2016. Ms. Amruta Bahulekar, the Program Director is a Masters in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She is committed to work as a youth-advocate in a sustainable livelihoods project that intends to deliver large-scale change without compromising on the depth of the program.Ms. Priya Patil, Chief Innovation Officer has over 24 years of work experience in the social sector in the area of program design, planning, monitoring and evaluation. The values of the Lighthouse Communities Foundation are empathy, inclusion, integrity and courage. The practices of encouraging diversity and participation stem from these values and are embodied in all aspects of the program. Many Lighthouse students have joined the Lighthouse program in Pune as youth and outreach coordinators. 

The Lighthouse Communities Foundation is committed to the values of dignity, respect, integrity, love, courage and full potential. These values are reflected in every aspect of our work with disadvantaged youth and with our internal teams. The leadership team is a mix of individuals from diverse backgrounds. Opportunities for growth and learning are provided across all levels of the organisation. Many of our Lighthouse Centre Heads have grown into their positions. Many disadvantaged youth have been employed by the Lighthouse as Outreach coordinators, Youth coordinators to manage student relationships and Placement Coordinators who manage hyper-local placement opportunities. 

The Lighthouse leadership team consists of the Management Committee (Chairman, CEO and Directors) and the functional heads (Lighthouse Centre heads and Central operations heads). All leadership interactions, whether at informal and formal meetings or workshops are held with a strong belief in the concept of a safe, non-judgemental space. Participants are encouraged to share their views keeping the best interests of youth in mind. An example of diversity, equity and inclusion is evinced in the language used in all interactions. There are no restrictions on language and all team members feel comfortable enough to speak in English, Hindi and Marathi. 

We have a diverse range of partnerships across sectors. Our key partnerships are:

• Government: A public-private partnership model. The government provides the space for the Lighthouse and bears the cost of the capital expenditure for renovation, repairs, IT equipment such as desktops, laptops, AR/VR equipment, furniture and electricity. Current partners: 4 Municipal Corporations, Maharashtra: Pune, Aurangabad, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Kalyan-Dombivali. 2 State Governments: Delhi and Odisha. 
• Corporate sector: Funding for the operational expenses of running the program. 
• Skilling partners: Vocational skills training for disadvantaged youth. 30 partners.
• Placement partners: Job placements for disadvantaged youth. 3000+ partners. 

The strategic approach of the Lighthouse Communities Foundation has always been centred on the belief in the power of collective action. The success of the program has been achieved by harnessing the strengths of the government, the corporate sector, civil society and other partners. It is with this belief and experience that we are applying for the Future of Work in India challenge. We hope that the challenge will enable us to expand our ecosystem and involve partners operating in the area of sustainable livelihoods, youth development, vocational skilling, technology and digital transformation. 

Through the YouthSkills@LighthouseCommunities hybrid vocational skilling platform we aim to create a solution that meets the skilling needs of youth, the talent requirements of the formal sector, with a strong alignment with the skills and competencies required for the future of work. The product-market fit is a fit between the skilling needs of youth and the market realities and we would need support to build this business model. As we are raising funds for this platform, help with pitching to investors is needed. A marketing and PR strategy to create awareness as well as engage with key stakeholders. Since the solution is designed to be hybrid and will integrate the best practices of in-person delivery with a strong technological interface and delivery system, support with hardware, software and other technical requirements will add tremendous value to the program.