Established in 2001 Sri Sri Rural Development Program Trust under the aegis of Art of Living operates with the single-minded focus of empowering Rural India. We aim at bringing together the best global practices, corporate thinking and accountability, the highest standards of corporate governance and transparency to create a model of sustainable development, which is benchmark in the industry and can be replicated at scale.

We believe in a holistic 360-degree development octagonal model with a focus on eight sides:

• Sri Sri Kaushal Vikas Kendra - Vocational Training
• Youth Leadership Training - Life Skills Training
• Light A Home - Rural Electrification & Energy Access
• Boond - Providing safe drinking water
• Shakti - Women Empowerment
• Community Of Rural Enterprise (CORE) - Promoting Rural Entrepreneurship
• Srijan - Prisoners/Militants Rehabilitation Program
• Shuddhi - Sanitation & Hygiene Program

Our Vision

Rural Empowerment through Best Practices, Modern Technology and Human Values.

Our Mission

To create a permanent and irreversible change in the lives of 1 million people in rural India in the next 5 years.

Our Philosophy

At SSRDP we believe in the partnership of rural India with key stakeholders, corporates, young urban India, the Government and other foundations as key to create a irreversible change for good.

Our Strategy

• Identify and address needs based issues in ‘Rural India’ through Sustainable Development projects, trainings and entrepreneurship development.

• To promote Rural Entrepreneurs, create a platform, and infrastructure for youth to take up income generating activities in their villages.

• To act as a bridge between Urban & Rural India for inter-cultural, knowledge, technology and human exchanges.

Integrated Community Development Approach (ICDA)

Our Integrated Development Approach holistically empowers the community with equal emphasis on all the 6 pillars of development: Education, Agriculture, Health, Promoting Human Values, Infrastructure Development to promote rural entrepreneurs and women empowerment.

Our Holistic Approach: Awareness and Training Programs

SSRDP follows an approach of grooming social leadership at the grassroots level and to create a platform for participation of youth in development processes in the community. It can facilitate quality in the present social infrastructure, through a specially designed and proven people’s participatory approach.

Stage I. Capacity building through Art of Living’s Youth Leadership Training Program

Youth are capacitated to become sensitive yet fearless committed and empowered instruments for social change. Our practical training sessions transform young men and women in villages and tribal communities into socially and economically self-reliant people with the confidence, energy and enthusiasm to create change. We do this by reviving their human values, invigorating their mental capacity, enhancing their physical health, developing their vocational skills and sensitizing them to the sustainable management of natural resources.

Stage II. Addressing issue based intervention

Using the first layer as its foundation, Art of Living is able to direct the community into highly focused and targeted ‘issue-based’ project interventions through special ‘Train the Trainer Workshops’, in-house or out-sourced technical experts.

Stage III. Creating & Supporting Rural Entrepreneurs

The existing strategy for SSRDP is to create ‘Rural Entrepreneurs’ for each project and provide them with the infrastructure to sustain their activities. This ensures the continuous running of the project even after our team exits the village.

About

Founded in 1981 by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives. The organization operates globally in 154 countries and has touched the lives of over 370 million people.

The programs are guided by Gurudev's philosophy of peace: "Unless we have a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, we cannot achieve world peace." To help individuals get rid of stress and experience inner peace, The Art of Living offers stress-elimination programs which include breathing techniques, meditation and yoga. These programs have helped millions around the world to overcome stress, depression and violent tendencies.

The Art of Living movement has spread peace across communities through diverse humanitarian projects, including conflict resolution, disaster relief, sustainable rural development, empowerment of women, prisoner rehabilitation, education for all, and environmental sustainability.

Sister Organizations

The Art of Living has a few sister organisations which are also dedicated to the vision of a stress-free, violence-free world. The International Association for Human Values (IAHV), Ved Vignan Maha Vidya Peeth (VVMVP), Sri Sri RaviShankar Vidya Mandir (SSRVM), Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), Sri Sri Rural Development Program (SSRDP) and Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Trust (SSIAST) among others, formulate and implement humanitarian projects of The Art of Living globally.

Organizational Structure

The Art of Living is a multi-faceted organisation with one of the largest volunteer bases in the world. The international headquarters is located in Bangalore, India. Globally, the organisation operates as The Art of Living Foundation formed in 1989 in the United States of America and in Germany. Since then, local centres have been established across the world. In the Art of Living's organisational structure, there is a board of trustees with a term of two years. Two thirds of the trustees change every two years. All the Art of Living teachers and the previous trustees are allowed to nominate a new board. There is a provision for an advisory board that monitors and guides the organisation. All the accounts are regularly audited by an external auditor. Other than expenses, no trustee is entitled to benefits in terms of salary etc.Art of Living programs directly help to fund its humanitarian projects. The proceeds from the sales of The Art of Living Publications and Ayurveda products are also directed to our social initiatives.

Memberships

• CONGO (Conference of NGOs in Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations), Geneva and New York
• International Alliance against Hunger
• UN Mental Health Committee and UN Committee on Aging, New York
• International Union for Health Promotion and Education, Paris
• NGO Forum for Health, Geneva

Our Founder and Guiding Light

His Holiness Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human Values, has inspired a global phenomenon of caring, sharing and service, which has spread to over 152 countries across the globe. His programs and service activities have benefited over 300 million people. His vision of a stress-free, violence-free society has united millions of people world over through service projects and Art of Living courses.

Gurudev founded The Art of Living Foundation as an international, non-profit, educational, and humanitarian organization. The educational and self-development programs of the Art of Living Foundation provide powerful tools to eliminate stress and improve well-being. These programs include breathing techniques, meditation, yoga, and practical wisdom for daily living which have helped millions around the world to transform their lives.

In 1997, Gurudev created the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) as a global platform for humanitarian initiatives that solve problems by uplifting human values. Through its country organizations and partners, IAHV conducts service projects and raises funds for humanitarian and disaster relief initiatives throughout the world. Activities administered or funded by IAHV include prisoner rehabilitation, trauma relief for veterans, youth and community development, disaster and trauma relief, and organizational excellence programs.

For three decades, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has been engaged in:

• Promoting human values
• Encouraging social responsibility
• Spearheading humanitarian causes
• Fostering interfaith harmony
• Building communal unity

A noted humanitarian leader, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has developed and led programs that provide assistance to people from a wide range of backgrounds—victims of natural disasters, survivors of terror attacks and war, children from marginalized populations, communities in conflict, among others. The power of his message has inspired a wave of service based on spirituality through a huge body of volunteers who drive these projects forward in critical areas around the globe.

Gurudev has designed special courses which teach effective and practical techniques for emotional and physical wellbeing. He has rekindled the traditions of yoga and meditation and offered them in a form that is relevant to the 21st century. Beyond reviving ancient wisdom, He has also created new techniques for personal and social transformation. These include the SudarshanKriya® which has helped millions of people to find relief from stress and discover inner reservoirs of energy and peace in daily life. He travels the world teaching people these techniques, and Art of Living courses have already touched the lives of millions of people.

As an ambassador of peace, He plays a key role in conflict resolution and spreads his vision of non-violence at public forums and gatherings world-wide. Regarded as a neutral figure with a sole agenda of peace, he represents hope to people in conflict. He has received particular credit for bringing opposing parties to the negotiating table in Iraq, the Ivory Coast, Kashmir and Bihar.

Through his initiatives and addresses, he has consistently emphasized the need for reinforcing human values and recognizing humanity as our highest identity. His work has touched the lives of millions of people around the world, going beyond the barriers of race, nationality and religion with the message of a “one-world family”.

Gurudev's work sees him addressing audiences of diverse nationalities and backgrounds, including the United Nations, prison inmates, corporate management teams, ailing farmers and school children. He has addressed various international institutions over the years, including the World Economic Forum and the European Parliament. He has also been invited to speak at leading academic and research institutions in the United States such as the National Institutes of Health, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Yale University (where he was inducted as an honorary board member of the Yale Divinity School), Stanford University, UCLA, University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University and Florida International University.

Gurudev leads through example, whether it is travelling through floodwaters to inspect rehabilitation efforts in Bihar, urging misguided youth to join mainstream society and work for social development; or meeting people at satsangs (music and meditation gatherings) every evening and answering queries on overcoming life's challenges.

His focus is always on fostering human values and building communal unity through his philosophy and ideal of a one world family.

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