Twenty-year-old Pragati Kamble lives in Daund, a small town in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The closest city, Pune, is a two-hour train ride — a journey that Pragati makes twice a day to pursue her dream of learning English. She is already the most educated in her family, having graduated from a government-run higher secondary school. But in her mind, she has only just begun.

Pragati is a student of EduBridge, an Acumen investee that trains youth from India’s rural and semi-urban areas and matches them with entry-level jobs in the organized sector. Roughly 93 percent of India’s workforce is in the unorganized sector, where work conditions are generally poor, wages are fixed below the minimum wage, and health and social security benefits are nonexistent. What’s worse, these jobs are not secure, putting low-income men and women at risk of falling deeper and deeper into poverty. EduBridge offers Pragati and millions of youth the opportunity to become the first generation in their families to find employment in the formal sector — and thus break the cycle of poverty.

Founded in 2010, the social enterprise currently runs 47 centers across 12 states in India and has trained over 50,000 students with a placement rate of more than 70 percent. The company prides itself on accepting all applicants as long as they have a 10th grade certificate and providing each student who wants a job with a placement option. Beyond professional training, EduBridge goes one step further to teach English and basic life skills, unlocking a host of attractive career options and the opportunity for personal growth.

Pragati learned about EduBridge from her brother-in-law. She aspired to become an engineer, but her family couldn’t afford the classes to prepare her for her entrance exams. Her father works at a local dam, and her mother is a housewife. Pragati, however, has never been one to give up easily. “I am determined to be the first one in my family to learn English and find a job in Pune,” she said.

She signed up for a three-month banking and accounting course, one of the five different courses EduBridge offers at prices low-income families can afford. EduBridge’s curriculum centers on English and professional development skills, and students can elect an area of focus from finance and IT to retail and telecom. The company partners with more than 100 domestic and international corporations, ranging from Pepsi to Fullerton India, to secure placement for its students. Pragati is the only woman she knows looking for a job. “It’s scary to be the first,” she said. “But someone has to be the one to move forward.”

Laxman Dongapure

Laxman Dongapure, 21, is the son of a farmer from Latur, a dry, rural district in Maharashtra, who grew up seeing his father struggle to make ends meet on Latur’s drought-ridden land. Frustrated by the plight of farmers, Laxman decided to follow his brother’s footsteps and came to Pune last year to pursue a bachelor’s degree in computer application. “There are no higher education institutions or good schools near our village,” Laxman said. “Those children who don’t follow their parents into farming end up working in nearby sugar mills.”

Living in the city has been an adjustment for Laxman. “Survival in the city is a day-to-day struggle,” he said. “In the village, no one is confident. In the city, everyone is confident because they can speak English.”

“Not knowing English is a major handicap both socially and professionally. Everything is in English from job interviews to messaging friends on WhatsApp.”

Laxman wants to find a job in finance and help make banking more accessible to the poor and illiterate. He feels that career growth in the banking sector is straightforward as long as he is willing to start at the bottom and work hard. For now, he dedicates his free time to practicing English by watching movies and YouTube videos and speaking with anyone who indulges him. “My brother says he’s going to forget English just so he doesn’t have to practice so much with me,” Laxman said, jokingly.

Ashwini Hiwale

Ashwini Hiwale’s tenacity is noticeable the moment she sits down. Though her parents both work in the informal sector — her father as a security guard and her mother as a housewife — Ashwini has bigger plans. “I studied up until the 12th grade, but I wanted to learn English so I could work,” she said. Her parents didn’t understand why she, at 18, wanted to continue with school, especially having recently got engaged. “I remember my mother saying to me, ‘You’re going to get married soon, you should be learning housework instead of English,’” she said. Ashwini persisted — and convinced her parents to let her to sign up for an EduBridge course. Since completing her studies, she secured a job as a data entry operator with a local municipal organization earning 6,000 rupees per month. She gives all of her earnings to her parents.

While maintaining her fluency has been tough, a common challenge for EduBridge alumni, Ashwini is most grateful for the personal development that came from being a student.

“Because of my course at EduBridge, I am able to express myself now,” Ashwini said. “Having a job makes me feel more capable, even my family has noticed the change.”

Ashwini is set to marry in the spring and, while her future husband’s salary alone can easily support their needs, she has no plans to quit her job. “I don’t know if my husband’s family will want me to work but I’ve made up my mind,” she said. “I’ll work no matter what and come back to EduBridge if I need more training.”

Harshwardhini Waghmare

When Harshwardhini Waghmare came to EduBridge, she already had a bachelor’s degree, making her more educated than many of her classmates. “I came to EduBridge because I wanted more skills so I could get a job in the private sector since that is where all the opportunities are now,” she said. Now 23, she graduated four months ago and now works as a data operator at the same municipal corporation as Ashwini.

“I really like my work, but I know I won’t be able to stay here for long as my father has other plans,” she said. Harshwardhini’s father works for the government, a career path long considered to be the golden ticket for stability and socio-economic mobilization in India. Her sister also works for the government in the social welfare department. “My sister is the one who told me about EduBridge because she knew I didn’t want a government job,” she said. “But it is what my father wants, and so that is what I must do.” Harshwardhini, like many of EduBridge’s students, come to the training center eager to take advantage of new career opportunities in the burgeoning private sector in India but are bridled by family demands or caught in the status quo.

“Regardless of my work, I am grateful for my training at EduBridge,” she said. “Before I never had the confidence to talk to strangers about my career and dreams, but the classes challenged us to be uncomfortable in this way, and now I’m happy to do so.”

Placing students in jobs and enabling them to bring financial security to their lives is only one way EduBridge is bringing dignity to their lives. “I always tell the students that their personal background is irrelevant to their professional performance,” said Sony D’Souza, Training Manager, Maharashtra.

“To be successful, students need to be willing to change and push the status quo, as well as accept the realities of the world today,” Sony said.

EduBridge is empowering India’s young men and women with the skills and tools they need to change themselves and the confidence to push the status quo. When students graduate, they are entitled to unlimited career guidance along with support for future job placement. The company’s aim is to encourage students to return to EduBridge for all their training and professional needs, so they can continue to excel and improve their lives. “Our relationship with our students is for a lifetime,” Sony said.