The Civil Society Organization (CSO) National Partners Meet commemorated
Quest Alliance’s journey with NGO partners in equipping young people from disadvantaged communities with 21st century skills.

The event brought together 30+ partners across India over two days, March 13 & 14, to celebrate achievements,reflect on new challenges, and plan for the future.

It built a shared understanding of emerging trends in digital access, female labour force participation, unemployment, and new employment opportunities in sectors like green, gig, technology, and care.

It also gave our partners an opportunity to build insights on new partnership models. Discussions were held on:

• Knowledge Partnerships (KP Model) involving transfer of knowledge and resources
• Partnership with government skill training institutions like Karnataka Skill Development Corporation to build capacity of trainers in 21st century skills
• Network model (comprising five or more member organizations) adopted by Functional Vocational Training and Research Society (FVTRS) to increase participation of women in the labourforce across India

The highlight of the event though was the VTI Trainer Recognition Awards which honoured 11 VTI trainers, Placement Officers, and Program Officers across four categories of facilitation, placement, mobilization, and data and tech. The awards recognized best practices across our partner network that transformed the lives of young people and equipped them with skills for the future workplace.

Additionally, in an effort to recognise the long-held need for leadership and organizational strengthening, our partners were also introduced to Sattva, a consulting firm that collaborates with nonprofits to drive social impact.

Over a course of one year, Sattva will help our partners identify key areas of reform and build an organization strategy to deliver the skill training program effectively.

The CSO meet was a testament to the power of collaboration in addressing challenges and reimagining partnerships to bring social change which is both equitable and sustainable.

In a first-of-its kind initiative, the VTI recognition awards helped us identify the best practices in facilitation, placement, mobilization, and data and tech through a comprehensive nomination and voting process.

Organizations identified their best on the basis of parameters across four sub-categories in each of the main categories. Meet our winners, driving innovative best practices on ground, and transforming the skill-training ecosystem.