Over the last few years, India has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies of the world and is fast transforming into a global economy. However, in the midst of this thriving economic boom, there are also some serious concerns facing the future of the country. Credible surveys have revealed that more than 65% of the population live below the poverty line; rural literacy rate is 58% amongst men and only 31% amongst women; more than 60% of primary schools in India have only one teacher to attend to classes I-V; only 80% of children join a primary school and amongst them 39% drop out before completing 5th grade in order to support their families; and 60 to 115 million children are working in agriculture, polishing gemstones, rolling cigarettes, packaging firecrackers, and weaving silk saris and carpets.

Thousands of NGOs have been battling to eradicate these issues by demonstrating and implementing sometimes innovative solutions that make a highly significant impact. At United Way our mission is to learn from these non-profits and strengthen the mechanism that supports such causes, focusing on those that demonstrate innovative, large-scale solutions that have the potential to change patterns across society through replicable models.

The United Way Community Investment Process endeavors to point NGOs to the horizon where they need to address meaningful causes; make sure they are working on symptoms not just causes; and build an adequate and efficient infrastructure to deliver.

Building synergies with prospective partner organizations is key to United Way achieving its vision of definitive, long term and sustainable change on the social fabric of India. Key action areas include children and education, women's empowerment, civic issues & capacity building of non-profits.