Our Programs
Youth Climate Resilience Network
Youth Climate Resilience Network (YCRN) program was born with the aim to create an intentional and strategic intervention to enable and support young organisations and low resource groups to have financial support to sustain during times of climate crisis to meet, connect and collaborate on climate change work in India, while the world also dealt with a global pandemic. Communities working relentlessly on building resilience, developing solutions to address deforestation, renewable energy, displacement, mobility have shrinking resources and challenges to bring these issues to the mainstream. There was a need for a holistic space that sets strong foundational roots for the work of young emerging organizations and their leaders. We came together to take leadership on a collective vision for strengthening campaigns and movements of youth-led groups before they take a hit from the rising challenges of the pandemic.
In its 4th year, YCRN has expanded and also set up regional infrastructure, and now comprises over 60 climate leaders, organizations, and collectives from tier 2 and tier 3 cities across the nation. This project remains indispensable in amplifying the voices of marginalized youth, forging alliances, influencing decision-makers, and expanding infrastructure. We remain committed to centering local climate issues and voices in the wider climate movement, making the network's work more essential than ever in the fight against climate change.
People Power Change
People Power Change (PPC) is Haiyya’s flagship program which aims to organize leaders across the country to strengthen their leadership capacities to shift power into the hands of the people to bring their required and desired change. PPC is based on the framework and pedagogy of Community Organizing (CO) introduced by Prof. Marshall Ganz of the Harvard Kennedy School.
Every year, the curriculum is contextualized to the needs of Indian changemakers, to root the understanding of leadership practices to Indian socio-cultural, political and grammatical contexts. Some intentional adaptations made over the years include adding Indian case studies, simplification of language, translation, etc.
Nilgiris Adivasi Leadership Program
With a vision to empower the leadership of Indigenous tribal youth from the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR) region in order to frame people-centric community development plans and facilitate their initiation of youth-led projects/campaigns, Haiyya has been working with the young indigenous leaders of the Nilgiris region for three years now. We worked in Kotagiri and Manthavady in phase 1 (2021-2022) and in Attapadi and Pandalur in phase 2 (2022-2024).
Our theory of change to achieve this vision is built on the fundamental belief that if people organize their resources differently, they can create power within themselves to achieve the change they want. Before entering the region in phase 1, our theory of change was co-built through listening and participatory discussions with the youth in the region. The initiative engaged tribal youth from diverse communities, including the Kurumba, Muduga, and Irula from Attappadi, Kerala, and the Paniya, Kattunayakan, and Betta Kurumba from Pandalur, Tamil Nadu.
Campaign Incubator
Campaign Incubator (CI) was born from a single truth – while many programs aim to build leadership capacity, few focus on providing young leaders with the tools and support they need to design and lead impactful campaigns on pressing social justice issues. We believe campaigns are potent tools for driving systemic change, enabling leaders to organise their communities, challenge the status quo, and push for meaningful outcomes.
At Campaign Incubator, our incubatees build campaigns grounded in their communities' needs. We recognise that real social change requires more than theoretical knowledge. It demands practical tools, meaningful support, and a community that transforms individual passion into collective action. Through six months of learning labs focused on community organising pedagogy, incubatees learn and explore the theory, and then apply it to their campaigns, with coaches playing a pivotal role in bridging the gap between theory and practice through personalised guidance.