Success Stories

Over the past 14 years, STARS Forum has facilitated and catalysed collaborations, enabled wider adoption of rural innovations, helped in development and upskilling of NGO staff etc.  Some examples are given below – Facilitating the spread of technology:

• Facilitated TOT in Azolla cultivation and processing, benefiting 000’s of small farmers in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand etc.
• Connected jackfruit processing innovators from Kerala with interested NGOs in Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka.
• Exposed Skill Training NGOs in opportunities in Solar entrepreneurship
• Facilitated TOT in fodder processing developed in Uttarakhand, to NGOs in central India.
• Facilitated collaboration between NGOs interested in developing IT based “new collar” and “green collar” jobs

NGO capability development:

• Conducted in depth workshops for NGO staff for improving their skill training programs.
• Conducted Financial Management training for NGOs from Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh

Train-the-Trainer: 

• Leveraged our network of mentors to train technical institute faculty in entrepreneurship development.
• Enabled scaling up of vocational training for school children developed in Maharashtra to states like Uttar Pradesh.

Early Response in the first few months of Covid 2020.

• Created an Advisory guide for NGOs in 8 languages on safe practices, to be circulated in their communities.  This guide was prepared by highly respected medical experts including Padma Shri Dr. Kshama Metre, Dr. Sudhir Prabhu, M.D. (USA) etc.
• Mobilised a team of experts and conducted detailed training on “Nutrition Security through Kitchen Gardens”. Over 1000 NGO staff, women SHG leaders in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand participated.  This was the first time training and handholding was done entirely online using Zoom and WhatsApp.