About 17000 ft Foundation: Established in 2012, 17000 ft Foundation is a Non Profit Organization formed by a team of Corporate professionals turned Social Entrepreneurs with a deep connect to the mountains. 17000 ft Foundation works to improve lives of the people of remote, high altitude mountainous villages of the Indian Himalayan Region, in areas that lie isolated and ignored for centuries due to problems of geography and access. By strengthening existing systems and providing opportunities for growth within these hamlets, 17000 ft aims to stem the desperate exodus of these indigenous communities to faraway cities in search of a better life. Their programs focus on improving education in Govt. Schools, creating livelihood opportunities, and generating exposure through interactions with the outside world. Today, their work spans the entire 60,000 sq. km. of Ladakh, and they aim to impact other similarly remote, inaccessible Indian Himalayan regions in the coming years.

Vision: A world where geography and distances offer no barriers to opportunity and growth

Mission: Transform the lives of people in high altitude frontier regions, by creating more educated communities, generating opportunities for development, and providing the support and resources they need, to develop them into independent, resilient and thriving economies

17000ft’s programs and Reach:

• Libraries: 220 School Libraries setup across Leh and Kargil Districts of UT Ladakh and implemented through yearlong in-school Library Programs and in-service teacher training
• Local Language Preservation: 36 story books for children translated into the local language ‘Bhoti’ and distributed across 300 schools of Leh District.
• Infrastructure Improvement: 134 schools upgraded with improved infrastructure consisting of Outdoor Playground Equipment, age-appropriate Classroom Furniture, Carpeting and Paint.
• Digital Learning Labs: 120 Schools provided with Solar Powered Digital Learning Labs consisting of a Solar Panel, Tablets, Content Server, a T.V., education content customized to the JK Bose curriculum and a multi-year teaching and learning program aimed at improving student learning outcomes.
• Teacher Training & Capacity Building Programs: In collaboration with DIET (District Institute of Education & Training) to annually train teachers and Head Masters of all Govt. Schools in Ladakh. Over 2100 teachers trained in various pedagogies
• Transformation of Anganwadi Centers: 150 Anganwadi Centers transformed through infrastructure development and training programs.
• Community Workshops: Conducted over 250 Community Awareness drives and workshops aimed at improving VEC and the parents’ roles in their schools.
• Volunteer Tourism: 400+ Volunteer tourists sent across Leh and Kargil Districts generating income and exposure for the local villages

17000ft’s Impact since 2012

• 52% reduction in dropout rates in 17000ft supported schools
• All time low dropout rate of 11.2% in 17000ft supported schools, as against a high of 24%
• Over 300% increase in enrolment of new students in 17000ft supported schools over 5 years
• Over 12% average improvement in student learning outcomes in a year
• Over 170 villages have benefitted from our Voluntourism program and an income of Rs 1.5 Cr generated

• The foundation works in the high-altitude, inaccessible villages of the Indian Himalayan Region
• They works to improve and enhance existing systems, rather than build parallel systems
• They work directly at the village level to implement all its programs for a minimum of 3 years, before handing it to the Government, thereby proving impact on the ground and setting a replicable model for the Govt. to follow.
• All programs are implemented directly with local stakeholders (Teachers, HMs, Village members and the local Govt.), and ownership of operations rests directly with them after the initial setup, with 17000ft acting only as facilitators and enablers over the course of the next 3 years
• Sujata Sahu, Founder 17000 ft Foundation, has received the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar 2015 from the Hon’ble President of India - Late Shri Pranab Mukherjee, an award constituted by the Ministry of Women and Children and presented to her for her work with disaggregated children of Ladakh and has also been awarded the Women Transforming India 2019 Award, constituted by Niti Aayog
• 17000 ft Foundation has received the India Mahatma Award for Social Good, 2020.

17000 ft Foundation has been working tirelessly since 2012 to bring attention and development to one of the most ignored frontier regions of our country. 17000ft’s work across the 220 villages in the two districts of UT Ladakh has been highly appreciated by the Ladakh Union Govt. and the local Hill Council – LAHDC and 17000ft has been invited by the local Government to help scale its program to cover other schools and formulate a roadmap for systemic transformation of education in Ladakh. Despite the minimal industry presence in Ladakh 17000ft has been able to bring and show impact across the 220 remote villages with support from its various CSR partners. Due to the lack of development in this region, the potential to see increased impact is higher. 17000ft provides all its partners with excellent branding opportunities, media coverage and mentions in its social media pages and websites.

17000ft has pioneered a unique Solar Based Digital Learning Solution, designed especially for remote areas which have neither access to electricity nor mobile connectivity, and have ensured children in remote areas of Ladakh have access to digital learning despite the limitation they face.After having transformed more than 25% of the Govt. Schools in the Union Territory of Ladakh and impacted over 20,000 children, 17000ft is now poised to replicate its impact to other states in the North East which suffer from similar geographical and infrastructural challenges. 17000ft also has a corporate volunteering program that can be structured to fit the CSR/HR mandates of its corporate partners. Employee groups can volunteer in any of 17000ft’s schools to conduct workshops and help improve school infrastructure. Working as a cohesive group towards a common goal enables team bonding, helps to create shared value and builds on employee pride.