Dakshana is a Sanskrit word meaning to give or receive a gift. The Dakshana Foundation is a young philanthropic foundation focused on alleviating poverty. Education is the most powerful and enduring weapon to win the battle against poverty. Thus, Dakshana is focused on providing world-class educational opportunities to economically and socially disadvantaged gifted children worldwide. We’re focused on providing 1-2 years of world-class intensive coaching to gifted, but impoverished students to prepare for IIT and medical entrance exams.

These adolescents receive a gift from Dakshana in their time of need. There is an expectation that, as adults, they would be giving gifts to adolescents in situations similar to their own in earlier years – either through Dakshana or via other organizations. They can also choose to give back nothing. The cornerstone of Dakshana’s model is that the beneficiary of aid today is the donor of tomorrow. Dakshana’s model is self-sustaining and scalable.

The Dakshana Foundation is a tax-exempt private charitable foundation approved by the IRS in the United States under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Dakshana India Educational Trust is an approved charity by various government entities in India.