At 18, while in college, Akanksha founder Shaheen Mistri realised that thousands of children lacked access to quality education. She and her classmates began volunteering, leading her to start the first Akanksha centre in a donated classroom at Holy Name High School in Colaba, with 15 students and one teacher.

Over the next 16 years, Akanksha established 60 after-school centres, serving over 3,000 underserved children with the help of professional teachers, volunteers, and social workers.

In 2007, Akanksha launched The School Project in partnership with the Municipal Corporations of Mumbai and Pune, aiming to create a scalable model within the government school system. Today, Akanksha operates 26 schools across Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, driving systemic reform in education.

Read more about our story through the years.