Position Summary

We are seeking a General Manager (GM) to lead the day-to-day operations of the organization and assist our Board in formulating its vision and future strategy. Reporting to the Board of Directors (BOD), the General Manager (GM) will have overall operational, managerial, and strategic responsibility for KEI’s staff, programs, expansion, and the execution of its mission. She/He will also be responsible for preserving the mission, vision, and values of the organization and will be the face of the organization with both internal and external constituencies. The GM will serve an initial probationary period of 6 months during which they will be evaluated by the BOD.

Iqbal Memorial Trust(IMT) in Collaboration with Kashmir Education Initiative(KEI,USA) Presents Maha Asim Post Graduate Scholarships-2020

Iqbal Memorial Trust(IMT) in Collaboration with Kashmir Education Initiative(KEI, USA) Presents Dr Arfa Khan Graduate Scholarships-2020

Mr. Omar began the Session by asking the students what image popped up in their minds when they heard the word, ‘Self-Exploration’. Most of the students gathered who had been pursuing either Medical or Engineering, struggled to visualize what Self-Exploration looked like, rather they arrived at an important inference that they had in chasing their academic goals, they had never really explored their unique identities.

Dr Sultan then spoke about his own subject of passion-Zoology and how his book on 100 Science Experiments gave him an opportunity to connect with children and meet the late Dr Abdul Kalam, renowned astrophysicist and former President of India. He briefly narrated the story of his humble beginnings in Pondicherry to surviving on basic necessities after the death of his father to pursuing an MPhil with an intensive project on earthworms. Today, it has been more than 45 years of teaching experience for him, during which he even coined the term, ‘Vermitech’.

“Imagine you are sitting in the driving seat of your car. You have control over your steering wheel, gear, accelerator, and brake. You choose the direction you would like to take. You should allow nobody to sit in the driving seat of your car. Your journey is yours.”-Hawia Nabi

“What makes a good story?”, “How are stories important for students?”, “Can stories bring us closer to our culture?”, “How do you start a story?”…These and many questions related to Storytelling were asked by the Student Scholars of the Kashmir Education Initiative on 26th August 2020, in a regaling online conversation with RJ Peeyush Mishra. Also known as Radio Ka Bachan on the popular Radio Nasha, RJ Peeyush is a Radio Jockey, Storyteller, Content Creator, Youtuber, and Voice Over Artist with over 15 years of experience in engaging audiences across different genres and target groups.

“Through research and studies, it has been shown that there are over 5 crore children in India who do not have basic reading, writing or number skills, so this is a big matter of concern. We should understand the system and identify the areas that we need to correct. And we as learners could do something about it.” said Mr Ashish.

“You Are Not Alone”- A Session on Psychological First Aid- Simran Luthra, Psychologist, and Founder, Talk Happy Therapy Moderated by Omar Hafiz

“My parents were illiterate. I hailed from a poor family where we struggled to make ends meet. My Class 12 Board Exams were postponed several times due to the conflict situation in Kashmir. I failed my Medical Entrances multiple times. I was mocked at for my poor English-speaking skills in college. I was depressed, angry and jealous. Everybody thought I was a failure. I had lost my chance of becoming a doctor. But I refused to give up. I challenged everyone that a day would come when I would be teaching all doctors instead of…” Prophetic words they were, just that, Dr. Fayaz Mir did not know.

he began the session by talking about Self-Acceptance as the awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses. She spoke about how one’s identity was acquired through one’s birth, upbringing, education, and consequent experiences in life, but that it still often did not do justice to who one truly was. She brought attention to the fact that one’s sense of self was the truest and purest as a baby unaffected by judgments of the people and society around. Self-acceptance would truly come when we would be in total acceptance of our positive and negative traits with unconditional love and kindness.

Dr. Riyaz added that he encouraged the participation of the volunteers during the interactive sessions and upon the completion of the stipulated time, volunteers would be receiving a letter of appreciation. Replying to Farheen, a mentor’s query, he also said that a structured training session was being put together for the mentors for smoother work operations. Mr. Yunis responded to Priyanka’s concern about a Scholar’s financial constraints and said that in case of dire circumstances, a financial aid system could be put into use. He added that the Mentor-Mentee support should be well documented and on an approval basis.

With 10 $ borrowed from his parents, he built a website devoted to aerodynamics, sending hundreds of mails to aviation enthusiasts and pilots, who supported the venture by sending data. He later sold this website to earn 1200 $.

“A mother had sent her son to buy groceries. The son stopped by at the bridge staring at the flowing water underneath. He waited for the water to stop flowing. He waited for an hour that turned into two, three, four. Soon, the sunset. It became dark and the son returned home empty-handed.” Neither the water had stopped flowing nor did the mother get groceries to cook. Time was wasted and so were many opportunities. And the problem of the flowing water remained unsolved.

Her explanations were not loaded with any scientific jargon and instead filled with colorful diagrams, a storytelling kind of narrative, and easy analogies to break down micro-biological and health-related concepts on the Immune System, how it functions, the origin of infection and the fighting mechanism. She started by talking about how human beings, animals, and birds are all made up of cells and spoke about the 3 important components of a cell-the DNA, RNA, and Proteins.

My Expedition from Local to Global- Being Scientistic: A Session with Dr. Tanzila Mukhtar

In a world that had been burning with conflict and pandemic, the session provided a cooling respite with its healing echoes of Kashmiri music and culture. When in her warm and articulate tone, Asmat Shai from Funkar International asked the scholars, to choose their preferred language for conducting the session, the vote was almost unanimous,

“I found a beautiful background of a blue wall in Rajasthan. I was waiting for a brush to paint with it. And then I found one. I picked up my camera. I began to paint.”… Suhail Mir.

Tete-A-Tete with Dr Sheikh Khursheed Alam: A Step By Step Guide on how to become a Civil Servant