About – Umeed- Nonprofit Charity WordPress Theme

Community-led solutions

Transparent impact in society

Umeed: Empathy in Action, Accountability in Every Step

Umeed is a people-powered movement born from crisis, bridging gaps in healthcare, education, and livelihoods with empathy, collaboration, and zero-overhead transparency.

Umeed began as a grassroots response to the COVID-19 crisis when Amir, Chirag, Ishaan and Prerona refused to look away from a torn, chaotic world that needed communities to come together. From helping patients find oxygen to coordinating cross-country relief, to bringing back schools from the cusp of destruction, their shared commitment inspired a people-powered revolution of compassion across the country.

Every project accountable.

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Working With People, Not Just for Them

By working with the people, not just for them, we nurture systems of mutual growth. Here, dignity is not a privilege, but a fundamental part of progress.

Innovation Rooted in Empathy

We embrace creative, adaptive approaches that stem from deep empathy and real-world insights. By blending innovation with compassion, we foster transformative solutions that uplift and empower every individual.

Social Justice as a Way of Life

At Umeed, social justice has evolved from a principle to a way of life. We create open spaces for people to listen, understand, and act, bringing together diverse voices from policy, public health, and education.

Collaboration from the Ground Up

We believe change should be a collaborative, bottom-up effort. By working shoulder-to-shoulder with communities, we aim to build solutions that are both sustainable and inclusive.

Grounded, Data-Driven, and Human

Our projects are grounded in real needs, shaped by community input, and driven by data. Every step we take is led with heart and guided by lived experience.

Transparency and Accountability

We operate with full transparency, ensuring our resources and impact remain clear. Every initiative reflects our commitment to honesty and openness.

Amir Siddiqui

Founder & Director

✓ Journalist by instinct, reformer by heart
✓ Amplifies unheard voices across towns & policy halls
✓ Media + business consultant with deep empathy
✓ Drives Umeed’s community impact & recognition work
✓ Board member: KFM Marg LLP | Utesiya Developers
✓ Crafts caring, structured strategies
✓ Keeps humanity first – always

Chirag Mediratta

Co-founder & CEO

✓ Ethnographer & semiotician fascinated by stories and silences
✓ Former Army officer turned MICA Ahmedabad visiting professor
✓ Combines academic curiosity with military discipline
✓ Builds sustainable, community-led solutions at Umeed
✓ Masters deep listening and decisive action
✓ Turns research into resilience
✓ Converts ideas into real grassroots change

Ishan Sharma

Co-founder & Creative Strategist

✓ From NDTV newsrooms to Leo Burnett’s creative floors
✓ Taught in Romania, ran hostels in Cambodia
✓ Writer, researcher, traveller, community builder
✓ Worked with TOI, Mahindra, Tata NEU IPL, Dr. Trust & more
✓ Freelance voice for impact-led organisations
✓ At Umeed: brings clarity, honest storytelling & narrative vision
✓ Strengthens Umeed’s voice with a people-first lens

Prerona Sanyal

Director & Data Controller

✓ Theatre artist turned AI & data expert
✓ Brings stage-born empathy to technology
✓ Builds compassionate, precise backend systems at Umeed
✓ Keeps the organisation grounded, transparent & steady
✓ Turns every dataset into a tool for inclusion
✓ Believes deeply in democratic tech for social good
✓ Makes compassion and code work together

A Network Built on Trust and Transparency

Our dedication to building a collaborative network of various elements in society today is a testament to that. Through collaboration, community, and compassion, we move with speed, speak with clarity, and act with heart.

Filling Gaps with Dignity and Purpose

Sometimes communities get lost in the noise. We fill in those gaps with trust, dignity, and transparency.

Bridging Critical Gaps in Society

At Umeed, our purpose is to bridge critical gaps in society. We specialise in providing essential aid, from emergency medical services and quality healthcare to vital educational and vocational training.

Empowering Sustainable Livelihoods

Our initiatives are evolving as dynamically as the world. Projects like iCare are designed to empower communities by providing the tools and resources for sustainable livelihoods.

Building Community Spaces

We have built community businesses and spaces that equip both skilled and unskilled workers, enabling them to take control of their lives. Umeed exists to connect people, knowledge, and care.

The Right to a Dignified Life

We believe that the right to a dignified life thrives when empathy, research, and communication come together. Our role is to bridge the space between information and action, ensuring that care is not only available, but also accessible, understandable, and human.

Collaboration Beyond Boundaries

Our values don’t exist in a vacuum. We believe in creating open and safe spaces through collaborative efforts with civil society members, other NGOs, and government stakeholders, understanding the grassroots elements of the system.

Collective Change, Not Isolation

The major crises of the world today cannot be tackled by harvesting an individualistic approach. We believe that coming together and breaking chains is a critical responsibility of changemakers.

“I had work one day and none the next. The small savings we kept for emergencies disappeared quickly. When the Umeed team came to our lane with ration kits, it felt like someone had remembered us when we were running out of options. The food carried us through the hardest weeks. It wasn’t only groceries that arrived that day. It brought back the feeling that our family could breathe a little easier again.”

Farzana Begum, Delhi

“My father’s oxygen levels dropped at night, and every hospital we called said they had no cylinders left. I had never felt fear like that. Someone shared Umeed’s number in a WhatsApp group. Their volunteer asked for our details, and within an hour an oxygen concentrator reached our home. I still remember the soft hum of the machine starting up. My father’s breathing eased, and the whole house exhaled with him. That moment still sits with me.”

Rakesh Sharma, Ghaziabad

“My daughter had nearly stopped studying after schools shut down. We don’t have phones for long hours, and she began losing interest. When she joined UmeedShala, she came home excited on the first day itself. She talks about her teachers, yoga classes, and the friends she’s made. Her confidence has grown. She now says she wants to finish school and work toward something she can be proud of. I hadn’t heard that kind of hope from her in a long time.”

Meena Devi, Yamuna Khadar, Delhi

“I live in a village where the nearest clinic takes hours to reach. I kept ignoring my health because going there meant losing a day’s earnings. When the Doctors on Wheels van came directly to our area, I felt a kind of relief I didn’t expect. They checked my blood pressure, gave me medicines, and explained my condition patiently. It felt new to receive care so close to my home. I realised how much I had been putting aside for years.”

Ram Prasad Singh, Meerut district

Our Journey: From a Moment of Need to a Movement of Hope

Hope in Action