"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
This book is about the graduates of Dream a Dream. It centres on moving, personal stories of young people and what it means to grow up with adversity and thrive. It weaves in research about positive youth development and best practices of the globally recognised life skills programme developed by Dream a Dream; it also chronicles Dream a Dream’s growth and development as an organisation. It shares stories of hope that with proper support from caring adults, young people from even the most vulnerable backgrounds can thrive and lead their communities, for the benefit of our shared future.
Since 1999, Dream a Dream has gained the attention of Indian and global communities as a leading education non-profit that is cracking the code on how to support young people with backgrounds of adversity to thrive, realise their potential, and become leaders who will shape our collective future. Currently, Dream a Dream works directly with 10,000 young people each year through two innovation labs – After School Life Skills Programme and Career Connect Programme. Dream a Dream’s award winning life skills approach, developed in these programmes, is designed to give young people, aged 8 to 22, a nurturing environment in which to heal, grow, and develop the skills needed to thrive in an increasingly fast changing world. This approach is now being integrated across public schools in India through government partnerships. Dream a Dream has shared its innovative model with over 3 million young people by bringing its professional development program to over 35,000 educators in six Indian states.
Connie K. Chung, Vishal Talreja, Dream a Dream
Connie K. Chung, EdD, is a Foster America Fellow. She has written, co-edited, or contributed to six books and numerous papers about how young people and their supporters can thrive in the 21st century, and how people and communities can create positive change together. She is a former high school teacher, a former foster parent, and former associate director of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Global Education Innovation Initiative. She holds a doctorate in education, dual master’s degrees in international education policy and in teaching and curriculum, and a bachelor’s degree in English and American literature, all from Harvard University.
Vishal Talreja co-founded Dream a Dream along with 11 others. He has co-authored 4 papers related to life skills in the Indian context. Vishal is an Ashoka Fellow, an Eisenhower Fellow, a Kamalnayan Bajaj (Aspen) Fellow, and a Salzburg Global Fellow. He is a board member at Goonj. Previously, he has been the founder-director of Unltd India and a board member of PYE Global and India Cares Foundation. He is an executive committee member of Karanga – The Global Alliance for SEL and life skills, and a co-founder of The Weaving Lab. Vishal has been recognized as an ‘Architect of the Future’ by the Waldzell Institut in Austria and as ‘Innovator of the Year’ in 2019 by HundrED.
