AIDENT – An Initiative for Development and Empowerment – is a grassroots organisation that has worked across India for over 25 years to build more just, empowered, and dignified communities.
Founded in Delhi in 2000, we have grown from a small team working in urban bastis to a trusted organisation that partners with governments, philanthropies, and communities across states.
AIDENT works hand-in-hand with communities to strengthen their own capacity for change with a special focus on women and children, who have always been at the heart of our work. Our interventions are rooted in long-term relationships and built around the real needs of people. Over the past 25 years, we have designed and implemented programs that strengthen education access to children, improve sanitation and dignity, enable women’s leadership, and build pathways to livelihoods especially for those who have been left out of mainstream systems. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. Each initiative is adapted to local realities, co-created with community members, and supported by deep behavioural engagement. Whether it’s helping child labourers return to learning or supporting women to run their own micro-enterprises, our work is grounded in trust that leads to sustainable impact.
An equitable and sustainable world.

Women as Change Agents
Empowering women to lead transformation

Systemic Change
Addressing root causes, not just symptoms

Participatory Transformation
Communities lead their own change

Tech-Enabled Scale
Leveraging technology and data for impact

Strategic Partnerships
Collaborating for collective impact
Community First
We follow the community’s lead; their priorities and decisions guide our work.
Inclusion
We center those at the margins, creating pathways to participation.
Keep Learning
We learn from community wisdom and use it for community development.
Empowerment
We enable people to define their own paths and lead their own development
Sustainability
We ensure every solution is climate-resilient, environment-friendly, and sustainable.
Integrity
We act with honesty and transparency, holding ourselves accountable to the communities we serve.
As we complete 25 years, we are entering a new chapter.
Until now, we primarily played the role of an implementing partner delivering projects with integrity and commitment. But now, we will also design and lead our own core programs too rooted in the same values.
The goal is to scale what works and to do it with people at the centre.