Year in Photos
2025
Amrita-Seattle
From launching a landmark impact evaluation with PCI India, to expanding into the Chicago community through our inaugural gala, to strengthening our Healthy Hot Meal Services for at-risk youth with the AE Foundation Community Grant, 2025 was a year of community-powered, evidence-driven progress.
What a year it has been at Amrita-Seattle. In 2025, we celebrated 15 years of “Live to Serve,” expanded our community with an inaugural Chicago Gala, and—together with PCI India—launched a landmark, organization-wide impact evaluation to strengthen how we serve vulnerable at-risk children and youth across every geography.
Across the Himalayan villages of Ladakh and isolated island forest villages of Sunderbaans West Bengal, our work stayed rooted in the realities of place—supporting children through comprehensive, community-based learning and care, and investing in long-term pathways out of poverty.
Amrita-Seattle's 2025 was also a year that elevated youth leadership: Padma was selected for the Gates Foundation Global Youth Ambassador Program, and three seniors from The Home of the Snow Lions were chosen as Pad Project Ambassadors, carrying their voices from the Himalayas to the world.
Back in Seattle, strengthened by the AE Foundation's Community Grant we continued to show up for at-risk unsheltered and unhoused youth and young adults—powering nutritious Hot Meals and Grab n’ Go meals support through shelter and Tent City partnerships. We were invited by the Gates Foundation's 2025 Giving Marketplace to turn holiday generosity into tangible action by packaing winter care kits for our community's youth.
With appreciation gatherings in Seattle and Chicago, we embraced the holiday season of the year with deep gratitude—and renewed momentum for what comes next.
As we look back on 2025, we see a year defined by steady progress toward our Live to Serve mission—strengthening pathways out of poverty for vulnerable children and youth, while continuing to show up locally in Seattle with hot meals and critical survival support for unsheltered at-risk unhoused young people. Thank you for being part of the work! Take a look at some of the moments your support made possible.
Amrita-Seattle partnered with PCI India to launch a landmark, organization-wide impact and portfolio evaluation—bringing together on-the-ground quantitative and qualitative insights with the kind of Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation rigor that turns data into decisions. The aim is clear: sharpen what works, strengthen what’s next, and ensure every program across our global initiatives delivers deeper, measurable opportunity for vulnerable at-risk children and youth.
We celebrated 15 years of Amrita-Seattle’s Live to Serve at our annual gala—honoring all our incredible friends and partners whose steadfast support has made this journey possible. With gratitude for how far we’ve come, we recommitted to the work ahead and the communities we’re proud to walk alongside in the years ahead.
Spring brought a proud milestone: Padma from The Home of the Snow Lions—Amrita-Seattle’s residential program in Ladakh—was selected for the Gates Foundation’s Global Youth Ambassador Program, joining a five-month cohort (February–June) focused on learning from the foundation’s global work, building leadership skills, and connecting with peers committed to positive change.
Padma's selection is a reminder of what’s possible when young people are given the tools, trust, and opportunity to lead—locally rooted, globally minded, and ready to make an impact
Throughout Ladakh’s long harsh winter—when schools typically close for around three months under sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall—Amrita-Seattle’s Winter Tuition Program sustained 90 days of structured learning, keeping 145+ children on track across 4 Learning Centers. In a region where many winter coaching efforts run closer to a 45-day stretch, maintaining consistent instruction for a full 90 days takes extraordinary coordination—warm, safe spaces, steady staffing, and daily momentum—so learning doesn’t freeze when the mountains do.
We kicked off the summer in the Windy City with Amrita-Seattle’s first-ever Chicago Gala—a new chapter for our work and a warm welcome from a brand-new community of supporters committed to standing with the most vulnerable at-risk children and youth we serve to build pathways out of poverty.
Across five (5) Childhood Development Program's learning centers in rural West Bengal, we supported 805 children with 210 days (2,530 hours) of structured learning—remedial lessons, tutorials, library access, and essential school supplies—paired with daily hot meals and safe drinking water so students can stay healthy, safe, and on track.
Summer made room for joy—our annual social brought families together for a picnic, a swim party, blossoms in bloom, and a movie night for Sitaare Zameen Par at Leh’s inflatable cinema, one of the world’s highest-altitude theaters.
In July’s heat, Founder and Chairman Dr. Sampa Pal visited our Childhood Development Programs West Bengal’s Sundarbans—a full-day celebration of cultural heritage that brought children and families together through shared stories, local traditions, and community pride. The day was capped off with a special, chef-prepared lunch for 300 children and families. In a region shaped by the world’s largest mangrove delta, the day was a powerful reminder that learning—and belonging—grow strongest when community and culture lead the way.
In August, Amrita-Seattle was named a 2025 AE Foundation Community Grant recipient from American Eagle Outfitters—fueling our Healthy Hot Meals program as 120 volunteers delivered 6,140 Grab n’ Go Meals and served 1,680 individuals across SHARE/WHEEL Tent Cities, Teen Feed, and ROOTS, bringing hot meals, dignity, care, and youth well-being to King County's unsheltered at-risk unhoused community.
Ahead of the monsoon in the West Bengal—where heavy rains, flooding, and embankment breaches can quickly disrupt daily life and access to school—we equipped 300+ students with umbrellas to help reduce rainy-season absences and keep learning on track.
In late summer, as record-breaking monsoons slammed Ladakh with flash floods and widespread infrastructure damage, the roof of our Digital Learning Center and the Library in Sankar village collapsed—unleashing severe water damage and forcing a vital hub for learning to go dark when students needed it most.
Through the fall, we poured our energy into an urgent rebuild—mobilizing intense fundraising alongside heavy construction and repairs led by specialist engineers and heritage-restoration architects—so the Sankar Digital Learning Center can reopen safer, stronger, and ready for students.
In October, we took Amrita-Seattle’s mission to the Microsoft Global Hackathon and designed AmritaEdge—a purpose-built AI platform with Sakhi, a multilingual WhatsApp “big sister” for women’s (especially menstrual & reproductive) health, and Shiksha, an AI learning coach for grades 6–8—turning community insight and expert guidance into scalable, dignity-centered support for women and learners in rural India.
In the fall, three high school seniors from The Home of the Snow Lions—Amrita-Seattle’s residential program—were selected for The Pad Project’s Ambassador Program, joining a yearlong global cohort of young changemakers advancing menstrual equity through advocacy and community action.
As the year came to a close, we led menstrual health & awareness workshops across four of our Learning Centers in Ladakh—launching our brand new Period Book with hands-on workbook activities, strengthening informed choice through open discussion, and equipping girls with period kits including washable pads and menstrual cups.
By next spring, we’ll expand to reach 300 more girls and women across Ladakh’s remote Nubra and Zanskar valleys—pairing trusted information with safe options so periods never stand in the way of dignity, school, or community life.
Over two weeks in summer, children in Ladakh and West Bengal stepped into hands-on STEM learning—exploring, building, and problem-solving in communities where access to quality STEM opportunities is severely limited. Our programs commit to expand learning beyond the classroom and open new pathways for young minds to thrive.
As the holiday season arrived, we gathered in Seattle and Chicago for appreciation socials—an evening to celebrate our shared journey and pause together in gratitude for the progress we made this year. Inspired by the same spirit of reflection and renewal that closes the year for mission-driven communities everywhere, we left reminded that every stride forward is powered by community—and by your steadfast support.
We wrapped up the year at the Gates Foundation’s Giving Marketplace, where we turned purposeful holiday shopping into hands-on service—partnering on a “Take Action” moment to assemble 100 winter care kits (with essentials like ponchos, hats, warm articles, and soup packets), making blankets and Holiday Hope Cards for unsheltered, at-risk youth and young adults across King County.