SIRI story
Siri Foundation was born from the idea that you don’t have to wait until you make your first million to make a difference in someone else’s life. Don’t wait, act now.
The founder, Srini Chintala, lives in the U.S.A., but comes from a small village in India. In July of 2010, after spending all day at a rural school, Srini reached his tipping point and decided to “just do his part” to make an impact in the lives of underprivileged children. He believes that, given equal access to the resources they need to succeed, all children can ignite their inner potential and achieve their dreams. He related to the cause, due to the fact that he was in the same position when he was a child growing up in rural India.
But how would you make an impact while living in the USA, so far away from the cause?
The answer came through two teachers, Mr. LVN Rao and Mr. Babu Rao Sureddi. Both men worked at rural schools, where they met kids everyday. Kids with great potential, but lacking the resources to succeed. They too were passionate about helping misfortune kids, whether it be through mentoring, after school tutoring, or counseling, in order to ensure that kids would not drop out of school. They had been supporting underprivileged students, but financially constrained to scale their services. After meeting LVN Rao and Babu Rao with a common passion, Srini decided to team up with them, tapping into his network of resources while LVN Rao and Babu Rao performed as the ground forces, connecting with kids in need. All three rolled-up their sleeves and founded the Siri Foundation Charitable Trust on 28th July, 2010.
Sustainability and incredible support from Asha for Education
Without Asha-for-Education support, the progress and change that Siri Foundation has created would not be possible. In 2010, Srini Chintala connected with Asha for Education of Kansas City through Viswa Ammula, attending a meeting and learning about the Asha cause, a cause that aligned with the core values of Siri foundation. Siri’s first project came to a reality because of the incredible support from the Asha Kansas City team. Asha truly helped in giving a platform to help achieve Siri foundation’s goals.
VISION
Siri’s vision is to help underprivileged children realize their full potential. We believe every child deserves a best shot in life!
MISSION
Our mission is to create a meaningful difference in the lives of underprivileged children through educational programs.
Siri Foundation provides long-term support to less-fortunate kids with their higher education, working to aid them in achieving their goals through scholarships, financial resources, and mentorship, while instilling the values of volunteerism and community service.
Our volunteers operate in villages within rural India, with the objective of creating an ecosystem for our students to learn to survive, thrive, and better their communities in.
CORE VALUES
Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. -Mahatma Gandhi
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s words, Siri’s core values are deeply rooted in a spirit of volunteerism and a passion for common good.
The following values are at the core of what we do:
1. Spirit of volunteerism
Siri promotes volunteerism and giving back to the community. Siri sponsored kids are required to take part in at least one service activity each year. Siri works with various people on the ground from youth members, to teachers. We encourage all of them including kids we support to take leadership roles to organize service projects in their local communities to make a positive impact.
Year 2020-22
99%
Spent towards the cause
Founders pay all administrative expenses
2. Low overhead
Siri has no paid staff, no office rental payments, and members use their own devices to run day-to-day operations. Siri does not organize expensive fundraising events or conferences, striving for simplicity and cutting of unnecessary expenses. This keeps the money flowing back to the students in the form of scholarships, school infrastructure, and anything Siri’s students need to succeed.
3. No discrimination
Siri does not discriminate in the selection of students for the scholarship program or supporting a new project based on race, caste, color or disability. Siri does not favor any particular religion, nor does it fund initiatives, people, or projects that are related to religious or political activities. Instead, Siri focuses on education projects that would transform lives of underprivileged children.
4. Financial transparency
Siri is a 100% Volunteer driven organization. We work hard to keep our books and information as transparent as possible. We run all donation from donors to children and schools through banks to avoid misuse of funds and provide a clean paper trail. We have even been able to negotiate better rates in junior colleges for students selected for scholarship opportunities, ensuring that donated funds can be stretched as far as possible to help the greatest number