The Gender Lab

What The Gender Lab does

The Gender Lab (TGL) is an India-based non-profit organization founded in 2015 that works to advance gender equity through school-embedded and community-based programs targeting adolescents and youth in urban and rural India. It operates across three interconnected verticals: (1) Empowering Adolescent Girls, anchored by the Avanti Young Women Leadership Program, a 20-25 hour school-based curriculum for girls aged 13-14 covering leadership, gender awareness, and self-discovery followed by community action projects; (2) Empowering Women, delivered through the 10-month full-time TGL Fellowship with two integrated tracks — a School Track where each fellow facilitates sessions and mentors 250-300 girls across 10-12 schools, and a Self Track focused on personal growth, feminist leadership development, and grassroots intervention design; and (3) Redefining Masculinities, comprising The Gender Lab Boys Program for adolescent boys and the How We Raise Our Boys (HWROB) multilingual workshop for educators, conducted in 10+ languages including English, Hindi, Bhojpuri and Marathi. The core 'technology' is a proprietary service-learning curriculum and facilitation methodology rather than a software product, with the HWROB program additionally delivered through a dedicated sub-brand website (hwrob.thegenderlab.org) supporting online registration and virtual workshop delivery.

TGL's business model is philanthropic rather than commercial: all programs are offered free of charge to participants, including adolescent girls, boys, educators, and fellows. Revenue is generated through grants from philanthropic foundations — most notably Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, which fully underwrites the HWROB workshop — supplemented by donations routed through platforms such as give.do. The go-to-market is community-led and partnership-driven: TGL negotiates directly with school administrations (government schools and low/middle-income private schools) in Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, and Jind (Haryana), recruits young women aged 20-25 from across India as fellows, and reaches educators via online self-registration for HWROB. Distribution leverages founder and team affiliations with WEF Global Shapers, Acumen, the Oxfam Feminist Coalition, and the Fora Network for Change, alongside organic social channels (YouTube, Instagram, X) and a pandemic-era podcast, 'मैं बोलूँगी' (Main Bolungi), that was pioneered for adolescent girls in Jind.

The organization maintains a 13-person core team led by Co-Founders/Directors Ayushi Banerji and Akshat Singhal, with a second operational layer in Jind, Haryana where Vijeta Mishra and Vishu Yadav lead rural programming across 45 villages. Reported reach includes 55 alumni fellows across 7 cohorts since 2015, 5,500+ girls impacted through 64 schools in Jind, and ~700 educators engaged through HWROB since 2020, all situated against TGL's stated framing of 113 million adolescent girls in India as an 'invisible population' facing socio-cultural constraints on autonomy.

Name

The Gender Lab

Legal name

The Gender Lab

Website

https://thegenderlab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Gender Lab is an India-based non-profit that empowers adolescents and young adults in urban and rural India through gender-equity programs — the Avanti leadership curriculum for adolescent girls, the TGL Fellowship for young women facilitators, the Boys Program, and the multilingual How We Raise Our Boys educator workshop — all delivered free of charge via philanthropic grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Gender Equity Education & Youth Development Programs

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights (BPADAGAF)

Keywords

• Gender equity programs
• Adolescent girls education
• Masculinities and gender training
• Service learning fellowship
• Educator gender workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Mumbai

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grants & Donations: As a non-profit organization, The Gender Lab is funded primarily through grants from philanthropic foundations. The HWROB workshop costs are explicitly covered by a grant from Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies. The organization also accepts donations via platforms like give.do.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Gender Lab is an India-based non-profit that delivers gender-equity programs to adolescents, young women, and educators across urban and rural India. Its core offerings are the Avanti Young Women Leadership Program (school-based curriculum for 13-14 year old girls), the 10-month TGL Fellowship for young women (inclusive of trans and non-binary individuals), The Gender Lab Boys Program for adolescent boys, and the How We Raise Our Boys (HWROB) multilingual workshop for educators. All programs are offered free of charge and funded through philanthropic grants.

Product overview

The Gender Lab is a non-profit organization offering a portfolio of programs focused on empowering adolescents and youth in urban and rural India to question existing gender narratives. The organization operates through four main programs: (1) Avanti Young Women Leadership Program, a school-based leadership program for adolescent girls; (2) The Gender Lab Fellowship, a 10-month full-time fellowship with School Track and Self Track components; (3) The Gender Lab Boys Program, engaging adolescent boys on masculinities; and (4) How We Raise Our Boys (HWROB), a multilingual workshop program for educators. Additionally, the organization runs alumni communities for fellows and program participants, and has created supplementary content like the 'मैं बोलूँगी' podcast.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Avanti Young Women Leadership Program School-based 20-25 hour program for 13-14 year old adolescent girls in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Jind, Haryana, comprising classroom learning sessions on leadership, gender and self followed by community action projects on social issues. Delivered by women aged 20-25 selected as TGL Fellows. Designed for adolescent girls enrolled in government and low/middle-income private schools.
• The Gender Lab Fellowship Full-time 10-month fellowship in Mumbai (for women from all over India) and in Jind (for women from Jind), inclusive of trans and non-binary individuals. Consists of a School Track (each fellow facilitates sessions and mentors 250-300 girls across 10-12 schools, with training in creative facilitation, holding space, school stakeholder management, and policy) and a Self Track (personal growth journey with learning sessions, workshops, and feminist intervention design).
• The Gender Lab Boys Program Program engaging school-going adolescent boys to explore different aspects of masculinities and challenge gender stereotypes at the grassroots level, encouraging boys to share, express, and care within a trusted and safe space.
• How We Raise Our Boys (HWROB) Multilingual 4-day, 2 hours per day interactive online workshop for educators, teachers, and social workers working with children. Aims to build knowledge on masculinities, reflect on gender and sexuality experiences, and create gender-inclusive classrooms. Delivered in English and Hindi via Zoom with in-person regional variants in 10 languages including Bhojpuri and Marathi. Costs are covered by a grant from Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, making the workshop free for participants. Has engaged approximately 700 educators since 2020.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached ~700 educators through HWROB across 10+ languages since 2020
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CREA: CREA is a New Delhi-based feminist human rights organization advancing gender equality and sexual rights in India. Directly comparable as an India-headquartered NGO running gender-equity programming and policy advocacy targeting women and adolescents, with overlapping donor and coalition networks (e.g., Oxfam's Feminist Coalition).
• Breakthrough: Breakthrough is an India-based (with US presence) international human rights organization working to make violence and discrimination against women and girls unacceptable. Comparable as it runs school-based gender-equity and masculinities programming for adolescents in India, using a mix of curriculum and media-driven engagement similar to TGL's Avanti and HWROB programs.
• Martha Farrell Foundation: Martha Farrell Foundation promotes gender equality through education, research, and advocacy in India. Directly comparable because it works on gender-equity capacity-building for educators and youth, and has previously recognized TGL team members (Vaishali Jethava received its Most Promising Individual award in 2020).
• MAVA (Men Against Violence and Abuse): MAVA is an Indian NGO engaging men and boys on gender equity, masculinity, and violence prevention. Directly comparable to TGL's Redefining Masculinities vertical (Boys Program + HWROB) and represents the most direct peer for TGL's masculinities-focused programming.
• Aangan Trust: Aangan Trust is an India-based child-protection NGO working with adolescents and at-risk youth on safety, gender, and rights. Comparable because it operates school-and-community-based programs targeting vulnerable adolescents in India, with overlapping geographies and donor pools.

Broad incumbents

• Dasra: Dasra is a leading Indian strategic philanthropy foundation that accelerates social impact by supporting high-potential nonprofits, including those in gender equity. Comparable as a broader incumbent that channels philanthropic capital (including potentially to TGL) and operates across the same NGO ecosystem in India.
• Plan India (Plan International India): Plan India is the Indian affiliate of Plan International, focused on children's rights, gender equality, and youth empowerment. Comparable as a broad incumbent delivering school-based gender and adolescent programs across India with substantially larger geographic and capital footprint.
• Oxfam India: Oxfam India is the Indian arm of Oxfam, running large-scale gender justice, education, and inequality programs nationwide. Comparable as a broad incumbent in gender-equity advocacy in India, and a direct network overlap (TGL's co-founder sits on Oxfam's Feminist Coalition Advisory Group).

Emerging players

• Quest Alliance: Quest Alliance is an India-based nonprofit that works with young people from underserved communities to build life and work skills through school-based programs. Comparable as an emerging player running school-based, facilitator-led adolescent empowerment curricula, though with a workforce/livelihoods rather than gender-equity focus.
• Educate Girls: Educate Girls is a non-profit working in rural India to improve enrollment and learning outcomes for out-of-school and school-going girls. Comparable as it operates school-embedded, fellow-facilitated programs targeting adolescent girls in rural India (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, UP), though its focus is on education access rather than gender-equity curriculum.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheGenderLab
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheGenderLab
• Instagraminstagram.com/thegenderlab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-gender-lab-india

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Gender Lab