MUMBAI: Milaan Foundation is delighted to announce new funding from Sony Music Entertainment India aimed at uplifting and empowering adolescent girls across the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, which has the largest population of adolescent girls in the country.

Through this new funding, Milaan Foundation plans to scale its flagship Girl Icon Program, a leadership development program that invests in empowering girls at the grassroots level, delivering comprehensive life-skills-based education and instigating collective social action. In the first phase, Milaan will train 2,000 leaders across three states to work with 40,000 young women, with a goal of reaching a total target of working with 100,000 girls by 2025. With the support of funding from Sony Music Entertainment India, Milaan Foundation will further promote continued secondary education, prevent child marriages and gender-based violence, and support the health and wellbeing of adolescent girls from marginalized communities across India.

“Every girl deserves a life of dignity, opportunity and access to education,” said Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Milaan Foundation. “We envision an inclusive and equal world, where every girl is educated, healthy and safe to explore her full potential. Thanks to funding from Sony Music Group’s Global Social Justice Fund, we can fast-track the education and empowerment of adolescent girls, cultivating our next generation of female leaders. We are delighted to work hand in hand with Sony Music Entertainment India to further our mission to impart young women with the knowledge, skills, and the social environment needed to pursue their aspirations”.

“We are pleased to partner with Milaan Foundation who are doing fantastic work to empower and inspire young women across the country,” said Rajat Kakar, Managing Director, Sony Music Entertainment, India. “As a global music company, Sony Music Entertainment is committed to actively supporting communities across where we operate. Empowering people is key to what we do, and we hope to do the same in partnership with Milaan Foundation.”

Established in 2007, Milaan Foundation is a social impact organization with the purpose to empower girls to stand up for themselves by advancing their skills, rights and opportunities and unlocking their voice, choice, and power. The funding from SMG will be used to invest in technology, deliver life skills and leadership education, offer mentorship, and promote community participation to advance gender equality.

Milaan Foundation is the latest recipient announced in Asia from Sony Music Group’s Global Social Justice Fund. Launched in 2020, the Fund supports social justice and anti-racist initiatives around the world. Two years on, the Fund has supported nearly 400 community partners globally and expanded to cover areas such as civic engagement, environmental justice, criminal justice reform, and education.