AAHANA’S HOPE aims to help women and children access quality education and guide them toward career pathways. We also provide skill development programs such as desktop publishing, cooking/hospitality, seamstress, and hairdressing classes. Gradually, we plan to collaborate with educational institutions and technical training centers and add programs for professional careers – All ONLINE!

We have a dedicated team in the United States and India, including technology professionals, program instructors, and on-the-ground staff. Our India-based team is located in one of the nation’s central IT hubs, Hyderabad. The team concentrates on curriculum development, recruiting instructors, and scheduling. We use cloud-based technology that is readily available. This way, students from various communities join the classes all at the same time. We are using a nationally accredited open schools program, which gives our students a foundational program base, after which they will be eligible to finish High School. This is a groundbreaking opportunity for so many undereducated women and youth in the rural and poverty-stricken areas we serve.

In early January 2022, our on-the-ground technology support team traveled to the communities to set up technology infrastructure, equipment, and training staff. We have set up online support for technical assistance. We now have 12 sites in rural and vulnerable communities, giving hope to over a thousand women, youth and children. Our goal is to expand the sites to 15 communities this year.

AAHANA bring transformation through education to some of the most vulnerable women and children, enabling them to aspire for a brighter future.

Join us to transform lives from poverty to possibilities today!

Meet the Founder

Sue Pushkaran is a Nurse Practitioner; she has worked in medical research for several years. Sue was born in India but brought up in the USA; she makes her home in Ohio, where she lives with her husband and three children. Sue’s heart’s desire has always been to serve, through which a vision for Aahana’s Hope was born, transforming the lives of underserved and impoverished populations. 

As a granddaughter of a self-made woman from a rural village, fought against the odds, and the social stigma, to educate her daughters, who then made their own way to achieve their dreams and goals. Sue was always passionate about bringing sustainable opportunities to the women and the children of the remote and vulnerable regions of India. Since 2005, she was actively engaged in to making a difference in these lives volunteering with non-profit organizations. During the almost two-decades of this life transforming work, she recruited educators to be deployed to such regions to teach and start general education programs. However, due to the lack of basic necessities in rural communities, these educators couldn’t continue to live among them and teach.

Due to the effects of demonetization in 2016, which brought affordable internet access across India and the subsequent covid-19 pandemic, unveiled the amazing possibility of integrating education and empowerment, as a result Aahana’s Hope was born in 2022.

Meet the Team

  • Paritha I. Arumugam

    Member

  • Alexander Lee

    Treasurer

  • Edward Steitz

    Education Coordinator / Secretary

  • Joel Fulton

    IT Coordinator / Member

  • Karen Goodwin

    Medical Coordinator / Member

  • Ginhee Rancourt

    Member