Prime Highlights:
- Launch Girls helps teenage girls gain skills, confidence, and opportunities to succeed in education, careers, and entrepreneurship.
- The organisation has impacted over 25,000 girls, including 18,000 in India, through mentorship, training, and hands-on projects.
Key Facts:
- Launch Girls has trained more than 700 teachers across India to deliver girl-focused programmes.
- Programmes run over three years, guiding girls from self-discovery to internships and starting their own projects.
Background:
Launch Girls, started by Neha Sahu and Averil Spencer, is helping teenage girls in India and 15 other countries gain skills, confidence, and opportunities to build their futures.
Founded in 2020, Launch Girls aims to bridge the gap between education and employment for young women. The organisation runs programmes that teach girls work skills, confidence, and how to build supportive networks.
Neha Sahu, who returned to India after studying psychology and education in New York, realised early in her career that talented girls often hit a wall after the 10th standard due to financial constraints, social pressures, and lack of guidance. “Even brilliant girls with strong academic records and leadership skills were deprioritised over boys,” she notes. This insight led to the creation of Launch Girls, after years of experience running Just For Kicks and Enabling Leadership, organisations focused on sports and life skills for children.
The programmes run over three years. In the first year, girls explore their strengths, values, and career paths while learning to navigate family and societal expectations. In the second year, girls learn about entrepreneurship and get guidance from mentors. In the final year, they do internships or start their own projects. Launch Girls has trained over 700 teachers and helped more than 25,000 girls, including 18,000 in India.
One success story is Sai Nikitha from Telangana. Through the Girl Boss Basics programme, she gained confidence, pursued an MBA, and started a project turning eggshell waste into eco-friendly products. In Cameroon, Launch Girls’ alumni created a women-led microenterprise, Green Lady Bosses, producing clean fuel briquettes to combat deforestation while generating income.
The organisation also promotes systemic change by involving boys, families, and college administrators in workshops and showcases, ensuring gender-sensitive communities.
“Our vision is to help girls transition from education to earning, and ultimately build inclusive economies where women participate equally,” says Sahu. Globally, Launch Girls aims to reach one million girls, inspiring a generation of young women to take charge of their economic futures.
