As on date we intervened the life of 245 rural, poor and first generation learning students and supported them from middle school through University education, many have been graduated successfully and now all of them are placed well and few are still in school level and the  others pursuing their higher education such as Law, various disciplines in Engineering, Nautical science, Medical and Paramedical courses, Bachelor and Masters in Arts and Science degree, bachelor and diploma courses in education in reputed educational institutions in Tamil Nadu.

We don’t stop with just providing financial assistance to our students instead we meet them and gather them periodically to listen to their grievances, needs and also to give them soft skill training. Beyond they are being trained three times a year through advanced method of leadership training during their vocations. Our students are given complete freedom over the selection of their schools and colleges, degree courses and profession provided they meet the requirements of the concerned institutions; once selected LEAD Forward provides uninterrupted support of all kind till they complete the degree courses of their choice and placed in a suitable job.

Students Support

Our young students are the future of our program.  They are challenged to adjust to city schools and do well, in the same classes with advantaged city students.  They are separated from their families who have limited educations and are not able to support well.  Often, they lack anyone to guide and assist them.  Sometimes, they need help to overcome family, school and hostel problems.  By our help, our students will feel more supported, able to manage, confident and happy.  They will be better students.  We also help maintain the coordination and relationship between student, program and sponsor, so the student and program are better managed and supported.  With our personal help, they will advance more rapidly and fully as students and leaders.

Education is the key to empowerment – for our people to have better lives.  Education is and the foundation for leadership and changing society, so there is true justice, with everyone treated equally and fairly.  For thousands of years, all the generations before us did have the opportunity for education.  College is the ultimate phase of education.  The more we help to complete college, the more will be developed fully as leaders, the more LEAD Forward will grow as a great organization, the more the poor and outcast will be helped, the more better lives and justice will be achieved for all.  One day, we will help many more than just our graduates to become the like us — first generation of their families to attend college.

• Payment of fees to schools, colleges and hostels and management of receipts.
• Establish a Mentor Program for students.  (Match graduates and college students to school students.)
• Monitor student progress, situation and leadership journal and learning plan. (Mentor visit each trimester or more often, if needed.)
• Know and assess life, school, hostel and leadership development situation of each student
• Encourage students and assist them with difficulties, as possible. 
• Report on student situation annually (More often, when important matters must be known.)
• Identify and report students who need assistance.  (Failing exams or generally low marks, particularly those with a pattern of this.)
• Improve and maintain the Student, School and Student Progress Reports.
• Prepare 12^th Std students for college (train and counsel for degree and college selection, for college entrance process and to know what to expect and do if exams are failed)
• Guide and assist students in obtaining the best possible seats for their interests, skills and budget (coordinate with college officials, as needed)
• Continuously improve LEAD Forward India knowledge of colleges, college officials and degree programs
• Guide and assist students and parents in obtaining fair and low interest loans
• Assess and develop a monitoring and reporting system suitable for college level
• Maintain relationships with college students and know their status and important changes in situation.
• Help assure college students receive timely counsel and assistance for changes and difficulties
• Report changes and difficulties to the President, LEAD Forward India (provide recommendations for assistance)
• Maintain the College Report (Improve the form and the completion of the form.)

Leadership Training

The leadership training enables all our students to be effective leaders for empowerment of the poor and outcast and for achieving justice in society.  We prepare LEAD Forward India to be an advanced organization.  We are creating the foundation for a future that includes an advanced model school, training institute and leadership training programs for other leaders and people of our society.

• Prepare and conduct trainers training and Leadership Training and special programs, if needed.
• Research and study on leadership.
• Identify learning objectives and prepare training and lesson plans.
• Coordinate with and involve advanced trainers of other organizations (other NGO’s, corporations, government)
• Coordinate with educational and curriculum experts.
• Develop and maintain a leadership library.
• Prepare to plan a future model school (advanced learning methods, positive environment for growth of free and confident future leaders, leadership culture and learning, advanced multi-language approach), training institute and training programs for other leaders and people of society.
• Prepare everyone to be trainers and lead trainers.

Job Placement

Our graduates have been educated to do better jobs than were possible for their family and for their people for thousands of years.  They have the possibility of having much better lives, for themselves, their families and others.  Our people need our graduates to be leaders for empowerment and justice.  But, suitable jobs are difficult to obtain.  There are many obstacles, including the casteism that seeks to keep us all in what others believe is “our place,” so they can continue to dominate and exploit us and our people.  By helping our graduates get the better jobs for which they have been educated, and getting them more quickly, we are helping them have better lives and be leaders to help many others.  One day, we will be so experienced that we will help many more than just our graduates get the jobs that are deserved and needed, for better lives and justice in society.  Breaking the job barriers is a way of breaking caste barriers.

• Assist graduates in preparing to seek jobs and in obtaining them. (fair paying jobs suitable for their interests, education and skills)
• Develop and maintain an employment report of all graduates, with information such as job currently held, assessment of whether this meets their education and life goals, what job would better meet those goals, what can be done to obtain that job, and status in obtaining the job.
• Research what is needed to be an effective employment agency (investigate others more advanced)
• Establish and maintain an information system to help graduates obtain jobs (library of references, website listing, current job information, etc)
• Continuously build a network of connections with various leaders in employment for various professions (for example, government education application and waiting, major employers, programs for IAS application and exam preparation)
• Prepare to become a future employment agency that helps more than LEAD Forward graduates.
• Begin building a network of relationships with leaders and organizations than can help us arrange jobs.

Preparing for IAS

LEAD Forward has the program of guiding the advanced students to higher studies and enables them to fetch jobs in the government sector. Now the organization is empowering the students to go under trainings which may enable them to get employment as IAS, IPS, IRS and IFS and also in elite services. This envisioned training will empower them to potential job opportunities though not only jobs in elite services. These students will involve later in joining hands with the Organization to enrich similar types of students.

Health and Medical Support

The poor and outcast live in unhealthy conditions because they do not have the knowledge and support needed for greater health.  Traditional ways of living are unhealthy, in some ways.  When there is a medical emergency or need, our people often do not know how to obtain the medical care needed.  They face many difficulties, including poverty, caste discrimination and the distance to medical care.  We are a growing group of medical professionals who can help improve the health and medical care of our people and villages.  Our own professional work challenges us and limits us in what we can do beyond our jobs.  But, we can and will do even more, together, to help our LEAD Forward family and our people, who are in great need.

• Plan, organize and conduct health and medical training for LEAD Forward students and graduates
• Coordinate with other health and medical leaders, institutions and programs to help plan, organize and conduct the health and medical training
• Assess and plan what continuing health and medical programs and activities would help and advance our LEAD Forward India students, leaders, graduates and program
• In the future, assess and plan the health and medical system needed by the future model school
• In the future, assess and plan health and medical programs LEAD Forward India might conduct to better serve the poor and outcast (e.g., training, screening, medical assistance)

Empowerment of Women

Women are the foundation of the family, the keepers of faith, the hope of children and a special pillar of society.  They have ways of thinking and leading that are special and important.  But, women are dominated and limited in freedom in a chauvinist society which must control women to maintain caste and assure the power and comfort of men.  Throughout their lives, women face different challenges than men and they are capable of leading society in important ways that are different.  For these reasons, LEAD Forward has been developing more girls than boys.  But, the program is not considering well enough the special development needs of women.  Women graduates are not being prepared and assisted well enough for the challenges they face, to simultaneously be wives, mothers, professionals and volunteer leaders.  Also, women need the mutual support of other women.  Male students of LEAD Forward also need better training, to be more equal partners with women in their marriages and partnerships in professional and volunteer leadership and service.  LEAD Forward, its women graduates and its female students need a leadership group to recognize the needs and problems of women, to advise what improvements are needed, to conduct programs and training, and to facilitate mutual support among women.  We may begin with advancing the women of LEAD Forward as leaders, but we may one day also help the development and improvement of women’s organizations and leadership outside LEAD Forward.

• Assess, advise and assist LFI, and LFI female students, on issues and improvement of our methods of educating and developing them as leaders and on conditions in our program, such as during leadership training
• Assess, advise and assist LFI, and women graduates, in appreciating and addressing challenges women graduates face in simultaneously becoming wives, mothers, professionals and servant leaders in society
• Establish and maintain a system to which female students and graduates may come for advice and assistance
• Plan, prepare and conduct training and programs for female students and women graduates, or assist in LFI efforts for these purposes
• Assist and advise LFI in recognizing and addressing gender issues
• Assess and advise LFI on what leadership actions and training are needed to prepare male students and graduates for correct behavior with girls and women
• Coordinate with other women leaders of society and assist LFI in involving those that may help advance our program, overall or for women
• Prepare to promote and assist women’s leadership in society

Justice and Crisis Management

The poor and outcast of Tamil Nadu are degraded, dominated and exploited.  Casteism, corruption, government bureaucracy and religious organizations combine to suppress them, or to stay silent doing their duties of society and staying in their place.  Whenever the poor and outcast seek justice, violence of many types is used to threaten, control and defeat them.  While some NGO’s and political parties attempt actions against injustice, they generally are reactive, after an incident, and not advanced or systematic.  All too often, very little is achieved for justice.  There is a need for skilled, organized, systematic, advanced and well prepared and led involvement at the time of violence, or threat of violence.  Leadership is needed to help prevent violence or, after violence, to assist families and promote justice.  Also, there is a more complex challenge.  That is to change the institutions of society that ignore, condone and even promote discrimination and injustice.  This requires systematic and long term processes of documenting, reporting and influencing patterns of leadership and discrimination in institutions.  Many elements of society, including the government, police and courts, will work forcefully to prevent us from promoting justice.  No matter the difficulty or opposition, the poor and outcast desperately need more advanced and capable assistance for justice.

• Systematically assist local and other leaders in assessing, managing and coordinating incidents and crises of injustice affecting the poor and outcast, to help assure justice is achieved and that the crisis will lead to progress in ending patterns of injustice, locally, regionally and institutionally.
• Assist, and help obtain assistance for, persons affected by the incident or crisis of injustice.
• Develop and maintain systematic and standard records of incidents of injustice and continuing developments.
• Identify, investigate, assess, document, and plan and lead efforts to influence and end patterns of local, regional and institutional injustice.
• Maintain a clear understanding of legal aspects related to crises and patterns of injustice
• Promote, conduct or assist legal actions to achieve justice.
• Coordinate with persons affected and local, police, medical, government, political, institutional and other leaders and authorities.

LEAD Forward Graduates Association

Our graduates have the possibility and potential to lead for great changes in society, empowering the poor and outcast who have been dominated, exploited and denied opportunity and justice.  It will be difficult for graduates to serve others while also starting jobs and families.  Our graduates face many difficulties for us to serve as volunteer leaders.  What LEAD Forward is attempting to create is new, advanced and difficult.  There will be frustrations and difficulties that could cause misunderstanding and conflict among us.  We have been elected by our fellow graduates, they believe we can be leaders they can trust and join in service.  The president of LEAD Forward cannot do alone all that is needed to make LEAD Forward a great organization to help our people and change society.  As leaders representing our graduates, we help to encourage and support them.  We help LEAD Forward to be the family team that is best for empowering our people and promoting justice.  We maintain close contact and friendship with our graduates, knowing their situation, helping them and assuring their ideas, needs and concerns are known to LEAD Forward leadership.  We help the president and board of LEAD Forward to succeed with graduates in succeeding in the turning point of the history of our program.  We are also the LEAD Forward strategic reserve — the group of leaders who can go to help where help is suddenly needed most.

• Encourage and mobilize graduates, to lead and serve with LFI; if not possible, then with other organizations
• Encourage and prepare college students for continuing involvement with other graduates and for leadership service
• Establish and maintain contact with all graduates.  Maintain and improve the graduate status and service report.
• Plan, prepare and conduct graduate programs and meetings
• Serve as second channel for the sharing of ideas and concerns about LFI and graduate involvement in LFI

Fundraising

LEAD Forward has begun to develop leaders and help empower the poor and outcast.  It has the possibility and vision for doing much more to help many of our people to have better lives and to promote justice in society.  Our leaders may serve and train others in many more ways in the future.  The financial needs are greater as we support many more in college.  LEAD Forward US continues to do all it can to support, but will not be able to continue many more years.  The future of LEAD Forward and its good works depends on our abilities to obtain support for ourselves.  If we are able to obtain support, with more each year, we will also be able to demonstrate that we can sustain ourselves.  Also, the LEAD Forward Endowment Fund would continue to grow, so that interest from it would be able to sustain future institutions, such as an Advanced Model School and Training Institute.  With this self sustainment capability, other institutions would grant larger funds for us to establish these advanced institutions which do much more to develop leaders, empower our people and promote justice.  Every other aspect of LEAD Forward, and the future of our program, depends on fundraising.  Specific future advancements of LFI must be integrated with the fundraising progress, such as beginning to add young students to our program or planning the establishment of a school.  This is, at first, a difficult challenge task, requiring special leaders who can speak convincingly with important leaders of society and business.  Whoever leads with us will become specially experienced and advanced in leadership.  In non-profits all over the world, the fundraising committee is the foundation.

• Manage and Coordinate graduate financial support to LFI
• Obtain, manage and coordinate individual sponsor program (outside LFI)
• Plan, obtain, manage and coordinate financial support or grants from corporations, foundations and government.
• Prepare grant applications and reports to institutions providing grants.
• Coordinate closely with the Communications and Public Relations Committee