The Smart Fellowship

We built The Smart Fellowship, to enhance employability of Bharat’s graduates and help them thrive alongside a.i instead of being replaced by it

These are a few incidents that became the foundation of our purpose

What is The Smart Fellowship?

Formerly X Billion Skills Lab

A placement focused offline workplace simulation where selected youth master 8 essential soft skills, workplace skills and digital skills by working in imaginary companies.

Why do we exist?

To enable Bharat's graduates to qualify for meaningful roles where they get to do significant work and grow faster. We also empower them to thrive alongside a.i instead of being replaced by it.

Our Journey

2017 to 2019

Green Batti Project

India’s largest 1-1 lifeskills mentoring program that empowered 5000+ youth

2019 to 2022

X Billion Skills Lab

A 50-hour hybrid soft skills training program that impacted 40,000+ graduates across India

2023 onwards

The Smart Fellowship

Team

Samyak Chakrabarty

Founder and Managing Director

Entrepreneurial Accomplishments

Built India’s leading youth marketing and research company as Chief Youth Marketer of DDB Mudra India- the world’s largest marketing & advertising agency
Advised 100+ youth brands like Tata Nano, Pepsico & Diageo

Industry Awards

Bombay ad club’s young emvie of the year
Campaign South Asia Young Achiever of the year
Exchange4Media's most influential young advertisers list

Empowering 1,00,000+ youth since age 16

Built India’s largest independent Model U.N and enabled Indo-Pak Youth dialogues
Build the green batti project - India’s largest 1-1 mentoring program
Built Operation Black Dot in partnership with election commission of India to enable 50,000 youth in Mumbai to caste an informed vote

Policy and academia

Appointed by United Nations to lead the Young changemakers Conclave India
Partnered with Member of Parliaments such as Poonam Mahajan, Anurag Thakur and Varun Gandhi to empower youth through skill development in their constituencies
Advisory board of Ashoka University and Gates Foundation’s Centre for social and behavioral change

Ruchika Thakkar

Chief Operations Architect

Started her career in education with the Teach For India Fellowship, teaching 40 children from under-resourced communities and making a lasting impact on their lives
Delivered & curated life skills, art, and theater education in schools across Mumbai through The Pomegranate Workshop, fostering creativity and critical thinking in young minds
Developed the Art, Animation, and Video Curriculum at Future School and led the Teacher Success team at Future School, helping to scale engaging educational experiences for students across various regions

Siya Vernekar

Creative Strategist

Developed freelance content for media production houses such as Maddock Films, Chalkboard Entertainment, Scriptur - spanning across articles, websites, creative scripts & social media
Led partnerships with education-focused NGOs and government schools such as Voice of Slum, Trishul, St. Anthony's High School to organize learning initiatives and teach students in grades 5 to 8.
Built learning content for India Foundation for Education Transformation (IFET), delivered to 100+ marginalized students in remote hilly areas of Arunachal Pradesh.
Conducted on-ground programs for CORO for Literacy, as part of the Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC) program

Kanchi Joshi

Program & Operations Manager

Started her career in sales at Tech Mahindra, leveraging expertise in audience insights and negotiation to create impactful solutions for both the company and its clients
Moved into a training role at Expertons, building a dedicated team of trainers focused on preparing young professionals for successful careers
Advanced to an operations role at Republic of Karting, where she established and led the operations team, streamlining processes to support organizational growth

Khushnam Anklesaria

Director - Talent

Worked as an HR Generalist at St. John Ambulance, Melbourne, where she supported organizational goals in the not-for-profit sector.
Transitioned into a business development role at Ambriona Chocolates, Mumbai, driving growth and expanding market presence.
Played a pivotal role in building the team at Humans of Bombay, enhancing operational efficiency and organizational impact.
Successfully set up a shared services team in India for a UK-based fund, aligning operations with global standards.
A certified trainer in soft skills and image management

Advisory

board