Guruji Education
Foundation
A Maharashtra-based nonprofit helping students progress from village classrooms to college campuses—and beyond. Through educational support, mentorship, and scholarships, GEF empowers young people to pursue higher education and build brighter futures.
Since 2023, TAP has supported GEF’s higher-education scholarship cohort and adolescent development programs through volunteer mentorship and direct funding, helping students achieve their academic and personal goals.
“ The main hope of a nation lies in the proper education of its youth. ”
Two programs, one arc — from 8th-standard to first job.
GEF’s work covers the long tail of educational support. The Adolescent Development Program reaches students at the scholarship-exam inflection point; Holistic Higher Education carries them through college and into employment.
The cycle of giving, measured.
GEF’s holistic-higher-ed alumni were surveyed to test whether the model actually closes the loop. It does — alumni get jobs, alumni give back, and alumni repay the interest-free loans that made it possible.
People, programs, and partnership.
TAP doesn’t run GEF’s programs — GEF does. Our role is to amplify what works: bring in volunteer expertise from the US and India, support program design, and channel donations through a 501(c)(3) so US donors can give tax-deductibly.
Volunteer English mentors
TAP recruited five volunteers across India and the US to teach Spoken English to GEF’s higher-ed cohort — running weekend and weekday batches of six students each.
On-the-ground presence
TAP members attend GEF’s Mumbai circle Annual Day and student events, building continuity between US donors and the Indian students they support.
Program design support
Helping GEF think through curriculum, batch sizing, and the next wave — financial literacy, Kaizen, and standardized training material that scales.
Financial contributions
Direct support to GEF’s HHE and ADP programs, channeled through TAP’s 501(c)(3) infrastructure so US donors give tax-deductibly.
TAP volunteers teaching GEF’s Spoken English cohort
The students wrote back — by hand.
At the end of the 8-month Spoken English course, GEF students sat down with pen and paper to write testimonials for their TAP mentors. Three of those letters are excerpted below, in the students’ own words — every mention of Piyush sir and Brahma sir is Piyush Mehta and Brahma Bantwal, the two TAP volunteers who taught the cohort.
“In first class, my English was not good. I had a misunderstanding — that if I will speak wrong English, then all others will laugh on me. But from the first class our mentors were too good. Their teaching methods and nature of keeping a friendly environment in the class made me confident to speak in English and express my ideas and feelings.”
Thank you, all of you, for being the best. You made this journey unforgettable.
“To my incredible mentors, Piyush sir and Brahma sir, I owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude. This journey was not only about language learning — it is a profound personal development experience for me. I gained the confidence to speak up, the courage to take stage.”
I am honoured and privileged to have been a part of the GEF family.
“I am writing to express my heartful appreciation for the exceptional Spoken English classes conducted by Mr. Piyush Mehta sir and Mr. Brahma Bantwal sir. The teachers created a comfortable and encouraging environment — even if I was wrong in my way of speaking and writing — allowing me to practice without fear of judgment.”
It has been a transformative experience. I feel much more confident in my spoken English abilities now.
In the founder own words.
“ We believe that almost every individual on the planet has good intentions. We often meet people who want to engage in social service activities with their friends, classmates, or alumni groups, but in most cases those noble intentions never translate into sustained action.
TAP is an exception.
This is one of the first groups we have seen that approached philanthropy with both passion and discipline. TAP systematically studied the social-impact landscape, identified areas where it could make a meaningful difference, and then took action. Kudos to the organization and its leadership team for turning intent into impact.
As part of this thoughtful approach, TAP embraced the philosophy of Talent, Time, and Treasure. The organization not only provides financial support but also invests the expertise, time, and energy of its volunteers to help nurture the potential of underprivileged students—an objective that aligns closely with the mission of Guruji Education Foundation.
Over the years, we have worked with many funding organizations. What distinguishes TAP is its humility, genuine care, and partnership mindset. Every volunteer we have interacted with has been approachable, thoughtful, and deeply committed to creating positive change.
TAP also assigns dedicated relationship managers to support its nonprofit partners. Our relationship has been nurtured by Ms. Arpita Desai, who has taken the time to understand Guruji Education Foundation’s work, beneficiaries, and challenges. Her insights and guidance have helped us strengthen our programs and maximize our impact.
We are grateful for TAP’s trust, partnership, and unwavering commitment to helping underserved communities thrive.— Dr. Pradeep Waychal
Founder & Trustee, Guruji Education Foundation
A dozen lives, moving.
A cross-section of GEF’s alumni and current students drawn from quarterly reports between July 2022 and December 2025 — the first CA in the family, a UN Millennium Fellow, NEET-PG ranks, and patents filed.
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2024Omkar ManeFirst Chartered Accountant in the GEF family — now Assistant Manager, Internal Controls at Holcim (Switzerland).
- 02
2024Malavika VenkateshSelected as a UN Millennium Fellow — one of 4,000 chosen from 50,000 applicants worldwide. Bringing Scratch to villages in Tamil Nadu.
- 03
2024Harsh BhadangeAnant Fellowship in Sustainability — 17 fellows chosen from 350+ global applicants.
- 04
2024Sakshi BaranguleAdmission to NIPER Raebareli — one of ~1,000 seats from 70,000 B.Pharm graduates nationally.
- 05
2024Dr. Pooja LokhandeCleared NEET PG with All India Rank 4,897 after completing MBBS.
- 06
2024Sharvari HalmareTwo offers in hand — Persistent Systems (SDE) and Deloitte (Analyst Trainee).
- 07
2025Juhi BaraiTwo gold medals at DMIHER — top of batch and top in Medical Radiology & Imaging.
- 08
2025Anuja VaidyaCo-inventor on a utility patent filed with the India Patent Office (wrong-parking detection via RFID).
- 09
2025Atul KshirsagarFirst-ever ICT student selected for Lupin Ltd Analytical Chemistry internship.
- 10
2022Ankita RautChosen by Technip for the INSEAD leadership program — Catalyst.
- 11
2022Amruta RautPivoted from engineering to dance — now Senior Engineer at Tecnimont and teaching dance at Shakti Mohan’s Nrityashakti.
- 12
2022Ashwini KadamJoined Sogeti Netherlands.
- 13
Gayatri JadhavCo-led the 1st-rank team in the 8th Quad — electrical, electronics & brakes.
- 14
Komal Padole6th rank in Pune University, BE Electrical.
- 15
Kalyan GardeChosen as Yuva Karykarta at Dnyan Prabodhini.
- 16
Paresh DalviActed in the feature film Timepass 3 (released July).
- 17
Prachi TariFrom a Konkan village to Pune — 1st prize in storytelling.
- 18
Ravi RathodTop prizes in essay, speech & poetry competitions.
- 19
Utkarsha PujariRanks in the 8th std scholarship and NMMS exams.
What happened this quarter.
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Sept 2022TAP puts out a call for English-mentor volunteers. Five members raise their hands across India, California and Texas. Brahma Bantwal (weekend) and Piyush Mehta (weekday) finalized as the first mentors for a 12-student cohort.
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Oct 09, 2022GEF Mumbai Circle Annual Day at the founder’s residence in Thane — alumni, students, founders. Meditation, skits, speeches, and a sense of belonging.
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Oct 11, 2022Cohort split into two batches of six for higher interaction. Harshita Goyal (GEF) coordinates with Atul + Rohini for the next wave.
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Mar 2023GEF Impact Report on the Holistic Higher Education program — 87% of alumni employed, 47% volunteering back, 68% repaying interest-free loans (including 20% fully repaid).
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Jul–Sep 2024Scratch Festival 2024 culminates in the 3rd Scratch Day (10 Aug). Chess piloted as a new AKTIV medium. NSDL’s “Market Ka Eklavya” financial-literacy program runs for 100 students. ADP reaches 48 schools across 17 districts; over 8,800 beneficiaries.
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Apr–Jun 2025Summer Scratch Festival 2025 launches — 325 students in 82 teams from 24 schools register. GRAPES program for psychological strength launches at Bal Kalyan Ashram (Goa). New Scratch and Math handbooks published. ADP reaches 57 schools; over 10,000 beneficiaries.
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Aug 02, 2025Monsoon Scratch Day with Dr. Anil Kakodkar (former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission) as Chief Guest. 880+ participants online.
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Jul–Sep 2025First set of 11 governance policies released — Code of Conduct, Child Protection, Inclusion, Finance, M&E framework, and more. GEF featured in the IIT Bombay Alumni Association Annual Report and Thane Vaibhav. ADP at 67 schools; HHE at 152 students.
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Dec 10, 2025First Dr. Prerana Rane Excellent Teacher Award presented to 9 teachers by Mrs. Elizabeth Mehta (founder, Muktangan). ADP reaches 73 schools (48 rural); over 12,000 beneficiaries.
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Jan 10, 2026Upcoming: GEF’s first-ever Musical Concert at Chembur, Mumbai — a new direction in fundraising and community outreach.
Mumbai Circle Annual Day — Vasant Vihar, Thane.
GEF gathered current students, alumni, founders, and well-wishers at the founder’s residence — frugality and warmth, in one place. The day ran from 11:00 to 4:00: prayers, ice-breakers with Champa flowers, a meditation session, lunch, and a post-lunch program on innovation, discipline and sport.
The standout moment: a 12th-standard student delivered a speech in fluent Marathi on the valour of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj — tone, rendition, and stamina drawing a long round of applause. Earlier, alumnus Paresh Dalvi (recently in Timepass 3) performed a skit on rising above caste, creed and religion.
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Foster a sense of belongingacross cohorts, geographies and graduating years
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Encourage contributionby alumni and well-wishers, in time and treasure
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Teach life lessonsinnovation, discipline, sport, and looking past difference
A donation here funds an English class in Thane and a scholarship exam in Konkan.
US donors give to TAP Charity Inc. (EIN 87-2830776) — tax-deductible. Funds are then committed to GEF’s programs in India. Indian donors can give directly to GEF’s ICICI Bank account via gurujifoundation.in.