Note From The Managing Trustee, FFE India Trust
Sudha Kidao, Managing Trustee – FFE India Trust
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Wishes for a Happy New Year from the FFE family to yours!
While the world deals with Omicron and other variants looming large, FFE has remained steadfast in its resolve to help our scholar community in all ways possible. The last 3 months no doubt have been challenging for students but FFE managed several online training sessions for students (soft skills and technical sessions), donor-student meets and a strong mentoring program that currently involves almost 1000 students and as many mentors. This, in the midst of delayed college openings and examinations, online and in-person classes, with inordinate and disrupted academic calendars, particularly for medical students.
FFE scholars and alumni continue to make us proud particularly during these difficult times through their stellar academic performance, placement records, and their ‘giving’ to FFE and the community in numerous ways. The insights highlighted in this edition only reinforces the impact of the scholarship that extends beyond defined, measurable parameters and boundaries!
We look to your support and ideas as we evaluate ways to make all our programs most effective.
1. NEWS AND EVENTS
I) Message from COO
Ram Kolavennu , COO – FFE India Trust
A Happy 2022 to all of you.
We are living in interesting times and finding our way through this testing period. The good news is that the graduating batches of Engineers have been breaking all the records of placements. It is very satisfying to know that close to 70% of Engineering students graduating in 2022 have already got jobs with some of them going for higher education.
One thing that we have been constantly working on is to bridge the skill gaps so that students can get the best possible career opportunities. There is no better way to do this than having industry experienced professionals mentor students while they are in college. 1004 mentors spread across 72 reputed organizations have spent their valuable time mentoring students 1:1. This has been a win-win for students, mentors and corporates for important employee engagement. In addition to Engineering students, this year BPharm and Law students are also being mentored by experienced professionals in that area. A big thank you to everyone involved in making this significant investment which has been of immense help to the scholars.
While in a normal year we would have completed the new scholarship application process in December, due to the delay in the admission process, we have extended the deadline for first-time applications to 31st January 2022. Please spread the word for eligible and needy students to apply for Scholarships, immediately.
II) Donor Scholar Engagements
A) 2nd Virtual Meet – Donor Mr. Babu Joseph and his scholars
Mr. Babu Joseph along with FFEIT Team members and scholars during the virtual meet.
Mr. Babu Joseph, a long-time FFE donor and supporter, virtually connected with his five sponsored medical scholars on October 28th, 2021. During the session, Mr. Joseph discussed with the scholars their future plans and encouraged them to take away important life lessons from the current situation. FFE is thankful to Mr. Babu Joseph for providing much-needed guidance to the students and for remaining committed to supporting FFE scholars through his continuous efforts and engagement.
Scholar Feedback:
Nabajyoti Paul, Final Year- MBBS. Stanley Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
“The last virtual call with Mr. Babu Joseph Sir was really interactive and inspiring. It’s always a pleasure to meet Sir. He is always keen to know about our progress and takes interest in our achievements and challenges. I feel more encouraged and motivated after the call and look forward to our next interaction with him, scheduled for February 2022”.
B) Sushila D’Souza Memorial Endowment Donors and Scholars-Virtual Meet
Members of the D’Souza family interacting with the scholars during the virtual session.
An interactive session, between Late Mrs. Sushila D’Souza’s family members-Ms. Jacinta and Ms. Maria, and their sponsored scholars, was held on December 10th, 2021. 19 FFE scholars, who are currently being supported through a generous grant by the Friends and Family of Late. Ms. Sushila D’Souza, attended the session. During the session, the students shared their progress, achievements and journey with their donors and thanked them for the scholarship support. Ms. Jacinta and Ms. Maria congratulated the students on being placed with companies like Cognizant, Citicorp & Google and expressed their eagerness to be part of such interactions in the future as well.
FFE sincerely thanks Ms. Jacinta and Ms. Maria for their time and support in virtually connecting from different parts of the world, to celebrate the achievements of the scholars.
We also extend our heartfelt thanks to individual donors, Mr. Sandeep Ramineni and Mr. Subramanian Manjeri for taking out time to interact and motivate their supported scholars.
III) Alumni Donor Scholar Engagement
48 FFE Alumni, who together supported 8 FFE scholars, met virtually on November 13th, 2021. The session allowed alumni donors to interact, share their experiences, and provide insightful guidance to scholars from their experiences and reiterated the importance of participating in the training programs offered by FFE (which was not available during their time as FFE scholars).
Alumni donors along with Dr. Sudha Kidao, MT FFEIT and Mr.Ram Kolavennu, COO-FFEIT interacted with the scholars during the virtual meet.
The scholars also interacted and shared their journey and progress with the donors. Dr. Sudha Kidao, Managing Trustee, FFEIT and Mr. Ram Kolavennu, COO, FEEIT, gave the participants an overview on FFE’s work and highlighted the importance of FFE’s ‘Beyond Scholarship Programs’. This meet concluded with an interactive Q&A session. FFE is grateful to its Alumni donors for their time to interact, guide and motivate the students during these challenging times.
Testimonials from Alumni Donor and Student:
Alumni Donor- Farhath Saba
FFE Alumnus: Batch 2014-2018. Current Designation: Software Engineer 3- Sophos, Hyderabad
“It was a pleasure to be a part of the session. It helped me learn about the current education scenario and ways to help students to do better. Interacting with students reminded me of my past challenges and encouraged me further to contribute towards a better future to someone.”
FFE Scholar: Padsala Rajkumar Sanjaybhai
2ndYear, MBBS -Government Medical College, Surat, Gujarat
“It was a very good experience to meet all the donors and other FFE scholars from different states and branches. Scholars shared their journey from school to college and spoke about future goals. It was motivating to know that our donors are also FFE alumni and have had similar journey as ours. Thank you FFE for organizing this session”
IV) Awards and Accomplishments
A) FFE India Trust bags ‘Best Employee Engagement Partner’ Award by Capgemini Technology Solutions India Limited
FFE was felicitated with the ‘Best Employee Engagement Partner’ award by Capgemini for the FY 2021-22. FFE was represented by Mr. Ram Kolavennu, COO -FFE India Trust.
FFE is proud to have received the ‘Best Employee Engagement Partner’ award by Capgemini Technology Solutions India Limited during the 5th Partnership Development Forum (PDF) held in Goa from December 7-9, 2021. Reaffirming Capgemini’s commitment towards social development and transformation, the forum focused on fostering the mindset of collaboration and discussed new strategies to create more impact in the domain. Mr. Ashwin Yardi, CEO-Capgemini addressed the conference that was attended by more than 30 of Capgemini’s NGO partners, along with the Senior Leadership team from Capgemini. FFE’s COO, Mr. Ram Kolavennu represented the organization in this Forum.
Since 2019, Capgemini employees have been actively volunteering for FFE through the Mentorship program and other employee engagement activities. 58 Capgemini employee volunteers (29 Mentors in 2019-20 and 29 in 2020-21) mentored 65, 3rd-year FFE Engineering students, helping them acquire relevant skills and making them career ready. Currently, 25 Capgemini employees are mentoring FFE Engineering students. In addition to mentoring, Capgemini Technology Solutions India Limited conducted a session, “Money Mindedness”, a Financial Management session for FFE’s 4th year Engineering scholars (15), on 13th March 2021, focusing on building money management skills, knowledge and confidence among young adults. Senior Leaders from Capgemini also conducted virtual sessions for FFE Alumni on ‘Workplace Attitude’ and ‘Work Readiness’ on 22nd May and 6th August 2021.
B) FFE was awarded the GuideStar Gold Seal of Transparency
GuideStar India, India’s largest and most reliable online information repository with more over 10,800 NGOs.
For the fifth consecutive year, FFE was awarded the prestigious ‘Advanced Level – GuideStar India Gold’ award, in December 2021. This award was conferred for demonstrating transparency in the public domain – sharing tax returns filed within the due date, audited annual accounts, and auditor’s reports submitted to the tax authorities (for the past 2 years). FFE was presented its first Gold Award in Mumbai in 2016, through support from Tata Trusts.
About Guidestar India: GuideStar India facilitates donations to causes and organizations across the country. While any voluntary organization can register itself on the GuideStar website, awards by GuideStar are possible only after the organization has qualified through a rigorous diligence process.
We thank our donors, Siva and Royan Foundation and Mr. C Babu Joseph, for supporting FFE by covering the costs of our submission.
For FFE’s profile at GuideStar India, please visit https://guidestarindia.org.in/Summary.aspx?CCReg=150
V) COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Mentorship Program
The FFE mentoring program has been specifically developed for 3rd Year scholars to help them acquire essential career-readiness skills. In FY 2021-22, FFE has successfully matched 1000 scholar mentees to 1000 mentors which include volunteers from 75+ corporates, FFE’s alumni network as well as many individual volunteers. 85% Mentor-Mentee pairs have completed two mentoring modules (of an essential four) currently.
To measure the impact of the Mentoring program, FFE tracks the completion of the Mentoring modules within the recommended time and collects regular Feedback from the Mentor and the Mentee after each session.FFE is thankful to the numerous Corporate employee volunteers, FFE’s Alumni mentors and individuals for their participation in FFE’s, one of a kind, Mentorship program.
Mentor Testimonial:
Kannan Srinivasan
Vice President, o9 Solution, Inc.
“It has been a pleasure for us to be associated with FFE. The o9 community is mentoring 31 students through one on one conversations. These conversations intend to help future college graduates improve their soft skills including, written and oral communication. We hope to leverage our decades of corporate experience to inspire the next generation to hone their soft skills and improve employability. We use the FFE Curriculum, combined with our own experience and learning, in our interactions with them. FFE has been transparent in reporting impact and project indicators, which has helped us to track the students’ progress. It has been a great journey and it is wonderful to be associated with FFE’s work in the space of education.”
Mentee Testimonial:
Raksha K N, 4th Year, BTech-Computer Science and Engineering, BMS Institute of Technology and Management-Bangalore, Karnataka
“All my mentoring sessions were very useful and helpful, especially the sessions on presentation skills, public speaking, etiquette, and mock interview that proved to be highly beneficial during my placement drive. These sessions also made me realize the significance of ‘Out of the box’ thinking, expressing matters concisely and the importance of body language. Timely feedback on my performance by my Mentor helped me focus on my target areas. My sincere gratitude to FFE and to my Mentor-Mr. Sandeep Sen, FFE Donor and Global CIO at Linde Plc. for this learning opportunity and improving my soft skills.”
Skill Development Programs [sponsored by Capgemini and Michael and Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF)]
FFE’s “Beyond Scholarship Program” provides a unique opportunity for students to upskill themselves through courses (app based) that are
not part of the academic curriculum (for example English, Aptitude, Interview Skills) but are important for students as they strive towards building their careers as detailed in the Table.
A pilot program was initiated for 30, 3rd year, Mechanical and Civil engineering students in partnership with Skill Lync beginning in September 2021. Also, FFE’s Beyond Scholarship Program has been extended to Law and BPharm scholars as well.
Additionally, 135 Medical scholars have been on boarded for the App-based English program by Enguru from November 2021. This is a pilot batch that completed the AMCAT assessment before commencing the English training program.
Participation in Training Programs during October –December 2021
“Beyond Scholarship Program” for FFE’s Medical scholars
FFE in collaboration with ‘QMed Knowledge Foundation’ commenced year-long, self-paced online courses including:
- Information Resources and Literature Searching (IRLS)
- Introduction to Referencing (IR)
- Mastering PubMed (PM)
- Reference Management with Mendeley (RMM)
Currently, 66 Medical students from the 2nd and 3rd Year have enrolled for this pilot training relevant to medical students; this is currently not part of their regular academic curriculum.
Bestharapalli Kakaraparthy Ganesh Charan, 2nd Year, MBBS, Kurnool Medical CollegeKurnool, Andhra Pradesh
“The Information Resources and Literature Searching course has been very helpful and informative. I now have access to a lot of new resources that are not part of my college curriculum. Thank you FFE for this great opportunity. I would like to participate in similar courses in the future to become a better doctor!”
FLY (Finding the Leader in You) Program in partnership with CMI and IIT-Gandhinagar
The FLY program is a 12-day Leadership program offered to 2nd year students, and is designed to teach non-cognitive skills for personality and character development of students. 136 FFE scholars participated in program between October-December, 2021.
IBM SkillBuild Program
FFE is proud to announce its collaboration with IBM for the SkillBuild Program especially designed to provide technical courses to students from Information Technology and Computer Science branches. The SkillBuild program is an innovative initiative of IBM, which empowers scholars with the know-how about emerging technologies and skills that are foundational for their professional career. The six-week camp includes modules on Front End Development, Data Analytics, Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, Professional Skills, etc., and is structured with training, group discussions, mini-projects and mentoring, all conducted virtually.
The first camp, ‘Front End Development’ commenced in October 2021 included 67, 2nd and 3rd year BTech scholars. The 2nd camp, ‘Artificial Intelligence’, commenced in December 2021 with 111, 2nd and 3rd year FFE BTech scholars and is currently underway.
Skills Training: Scholar Testimonials
Rajdeep Bhadra, 3rd Year-BTech, Information Technology, Jadavpur University- Kolkata, West Bengal
“I am extremely thankful to FFE and Capgemini for providing Coursera courses that have been extremely helpful in improving my technical knowledge. Machine Learning with TensorFlow on Google Cloud and Data Science by IBM are my favourite courses. The Completion certificates provided at the course end has helped in building a good resume for myself as well.“
Vishal Jha, 2nd Year-BTech, Computer Science and Engineering, Walchand College of Engineering Sangli, Maharashtra
“Enguru is one of the best online applications for learning and improving English. Coming from a technical background, I realized the importance of personality development only after I took the classes on Spoken English, behaviour, etiquette, etc. I am very thankful to FFE for giving us this amazing opportunity and I hope to be a part of more such activities in the future.”
IV. CORPORATE WORKSHOPS
A) Interactive Session with Atos IT Services Private Limited Ltd.
Atos IT Services Private Limited Ltd, conducted a virtual interactive session with their sponsored Engineering Scholars on 19th of November 2021. The event facilitated by FFE, saw participation from 25, 4th Year Engineering scholars who are currently being supported by Atos IT Services Private Limited Ltd.
Mr. Nasir Usman Shaikh, Sr. Vice President, HR Head, Atos India, Mr. Murli Menon & Ms. Janani N.M from the CSR Team led the session. The interaction aimed at understanding the students’ current activities at college, their academic & placement status and any other updates. During the session, the students were encouraged to take up entrepreneurship and approach Atos IT Services Private Limited Ltd for internship & career opportunities. FFE is grateful to Atos IT Services Private Limited Ltd. team for their partnership and for this interactive session with their supported scholars.
B) Workshop on Effective Communications by NetApp Excellerator
NetApp Team with its supported FFE scholars during the Workshop
On 24th November 2021, Ms. Madhurima Agarwal, Director-Engineering Programs, NetApp India Leader, NetApp Excellerator conducted an interactive and insightful workshop on ‘Effective Communication’. 150 women Engineering scholars participated in the forum. The focus of the session was to help the scholars improve their English communication and public speaking skills.FFE is thankful to the NetApp India team for their continued support and for their time to engage with FFE scholars
2. VOICE OF SCHOLARS
I) CURRENT STUDENT
Sonalika Sahu, Year III (Part 2), MBBS, SCB Medical College, Cuttack, Cuttack, Orissa
Sonalika is a passionate and enthusiastic student who believes in hard work and perseverance. Sonalika’sfather is a paddy farmer and earns just enough to support the family. Her mother is a homemaker and her younger sister is pursuing her 2nd Year BA B.Ed.
“I belong to a lower middleclass family from the district of Kalahandi, Odisha. Despite the financial constraints we have faced all these years, my parents have motivated us to do well in studies. Coming from a small town, I had little knowledge on securing admission in a good Medical College. However, I knew that the key to success is hard work, which I took seriously. With a high score of 92% in class 12 and a rank of 3655 in the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET), I was admitted to the SCB Medical College, Cuttack. One step closer to my dream, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my donor, Mr C. Babu Joseph & FFE for their constant support towards my education. The scholarship has lifted a huge burden from my family and I can finally focus on my studies. In future aspire to specialize as a Cardiac Surgeon and serve in rural India, which lacks adequate medical facilities.”
II) ALUMNUS
Parth Shah, FFE Scholar: 2013-2017., Assistant Manager, Business Development, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Pune, Maharashtra
FFE Alumnus, Parth Shah, completed his BTech in Mechanical Engineering from LD College of Engineering, Ahmedabad. Since 2017, Parth is working at Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Pune, as an Assistant Manager in the Business Development domain. Parth has been actively contributing to FFE’s Circle of Giving since 2019.
In Parth’s words, “We have seen very tough times financially. With a family of five, that includes my parents and two older sisters; my father is the sole breadwinner who worked as an Assistant accountant in a small firm in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. When I was in Class 12, my father had the dual burden of paying my tuition fee and also arranging for my sister’s wedding. My father’s struggles only motivated me to work harder. I left no stone unturned and performed well academically in class 11 and 12, and thereafter prepared for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). By God’s grace, a good rank, family support and my strong determination, I was admitted to LD College of Engineering (LDCE), Ahmedabad.
While in college, I heard about FFE and immediately contacted Mr. Gunvant Mudiya (FFE Facilitator from Gujarat) and applied for FFE’s scholarship. That was the beginning of my journey with FFE. My generous donor ‘Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF)’ supported me during my entire 4-year degree, for which I am forever grateful! Today, as a proud FFE alumnus, I feel privileged that I am able to give back to the Foundation, as a donor and a Facilitator. FFE had a very positive impact on my life and is working wonders in impacting the lives of many more bright student like me, across the country. As they say – “Always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting!”I urge all my fellow FFE Alumni to support the work of the Foundation in every way possible.”
3. VOLUNTEER SPEAK
Dr. Mahesh Ravindra Shindikar, FFE Facilitator, Pune, Maharashtra
Dr. Mahesh Ravindra Shindikar, PhD(Botany)has been a dedicated and committed FFE volunteer Facilitator since 2014. Dr. Shindikar conducts research extensively in the fields of Environmental sciences and Ecology. Presently working as an Assistant Professor-Biology at the College of Engineering, Pune, Dr. Shindikar holds positions across different environment- affiliated governmental and non-governmental organisations. His wife, is an also an academician and daughter is studying in primary school.
“I have been a part of the FFE Family since 2014. I was introduced to FFE by FFE scholars from College of Engineering Pune. My senior colleague, Professor Priti Regethen connected me to FFE. Until date, I have introduced more than 50 eligible scholars to FFE and encouraged and guided more than 100 scholars through the application process for this scholarship program. I consider myself privileged to get a chance to reach out to financially marginalised but academically brilliant students and help reduce their financial burden to an extent.”
4. DONOR FEATURE
Ms. Chetana Kumar, Head, Corporate Social Responsibility & Special Projects, Fractal Analytics Pvt. Ltd.
“It has been a pleasure for Fractal CSR to work with FFEIT. Our team has appreciated the transparency, professionalism and commitment that FFEIT has shown in empowering deserving and economically underprivileged scholars pursuing STEM degrees. At Fractal CSR one of our thrust areas has been better educational outcomes for economically disadvantaged children and youth. We appreciate FFEIT’s focus on mentorship along with scholarship assistance. This focus is important in developing industry ready young professionals. It also helps provide wider exposure, build confidence and imbue young scholars with imaginative and entrepreneurial goals. Through the FFEIT scholarship program, Fractal has been able to support the educational aspirations and needs of well over 36 lady scholars over 4 years. Many of these scholars are now set to commence their professional journeys at well-regarded organizations across India. We wish all FFEIT scholars and the team at FFEIT the very best this coming new year.”
FFE TEAM UPDATE
FFE Team members along with FFE’s Managing Trustee, Dr. Sudha Kidao and FFE’s COO, Mr. Ram Kolavennu, during the team offsite.
On 17th December 2021, FFEIT hosted an offsite team meet at Area 83, in Bengaluru. Attended by 26 FFE team members, the day was well spent with exciting and fun filled team building activities. Dr. Sudha Kidao and Mr. Ram Kolavennu reiterated the importance of a strong team and the rewards of team work that has helped FFE scale. The day ended with the entire team going back recharged and energized, reflecting on the achievements of the year and looking forward to an even more successful New Year 2022!
