Vision Empower Annual Report 2025–26

Founder's Message – Vidhya Y

This year has been one of the most meaningful and fulfilling years in the Vision Empower Journey. While we continued creating long-lasting impact with our existing partners, we also entered new partnerships and expanded into new projects that inspired us to think differently and grow in multiple ways.

We grew in scale, geography, and reach, but what stood out most to me was the confidence we built within the communities we work with—students, teachers, parents, and within ourselves as a team.

Among the many firsts this year, one that remains especially close to my heart was creating the Accessible Resource Centre at IIIT Bangalore. The center has brought Science alive for many students who had never experienced it in this way before. Every time I see students walk into the space and explore models, games, and experiments with curiosity and excitement, it gives me immense joy. These are experiences that were denied to me growing up and, even today, remain inaccessible to many children with visual impairment.

We realised that many children who could not travel to Bangalore should not miss out on these opportunities. This led to our mobile van – the ARC on Wheels. Taking hands-on science directly to schools and communities that have not had access to such opportunities has been one of the most powerful extensions of our work. We set up accessible science labs across the country. As I witnessed students independently performing experiments, asking questions, and engaging with concepts, I felt reassured that the mission we set out for ourselves is moving in the right direction.

Science Day continues to be one of my favourite days of the year, where I have witnessed students enthusiastically demonstrating their learning to visitors, teachers, and peers. What I notice most is the shift from hesitation to confidence.

This year also brought meaningful recognition to our work. Being shortlisted for the QS Reimagine Education Awards 2025 was a milestone in itself. Presenting our work before leading universities and global institutions validated not only our programmes but also the larger vision of inclusive STEM education. We were also among a select group of NGO partners supported and invited by Microsoft to share our work at the Microsoft Asia CELA Embassy AI for Good Retreat in Bangkok. Participating in these conversations was both humbling and affirming. It strengthened our belief that accessibility is not a niche issue but an important part of larger conversations around AI, technology, and inclusion.

Another important shift this year has been within our own organisation. The appreciation we receive from schools and parents for our team's dedication reminded us of the importance of celebrating our own people. Through team awards, appreciation moments, and messages from family members, we have become more intentional about recognising the effort, creativity, and perseverance behind our work.

These simple gestures have reinforced something important for us, that Vision Empower is more than a workplace; it is a community, and a family for us.

While we are proud of how far we have come, we know there is still much more to achieve. The progress we have made has been possible because of the trust and support of our partners, funders, schools, teachers, parents, and well-wishers. Most importantly, it has been possible because of our students, whose curiosity and aspirations continue to inspire us every day.

The journey ahead is long, but this year has strengthened our belief that meaningful change is possible when innovation, partnerships, and community come together with purpose.

With gratitude,
Vidhya Y
Founder, Vision Empower

At Vision Empower, we believe that every child with visual impairment must have equitable access to meaningful, engaging, and joyful learning opportunities. Subjects such as Mathematics, Science, and Technology have been seen as difficult or beyond the reach of children with visual impairments. The truth, however, is not that children lack the ability to learn; rather, the learning ecosystem has not always been ready for them. Accessible tools, appropriate learning resources, trained teachers, and inclusive classroom practices have often been inadequate or unavailable.

This is the gap Vision Empower is committed to addressing.

Across our initiatives, we witnessed a common outcome: increased student confidence, stronger teacher readiness to adopt inclusive pedagogy, greater parent engagement, and deeper awareness of accessible learning practices. These changes strengthened participation, supported learning, and advanced inclusion, reflecting progress that goes far beyond numbers.

We work towards ensuring that STEM education is accessible to all, and that nothing comes between a child and their ability to explore Science, understand Technology, express creativity, solve problems, or participate fully in the world around them.

Student using a tactile learning board in a classroom

The year 2025–26 marked an important stage in Vision Empower’s journey of growth. From strengthening accessible learning within special schools for the blind, we expanded towards building a larger ecosystem of accessible STEM education. This included the establishment of accessible learning spaces such as the Accessible Resource Centre (ARC) at IIIT Bangalore, along with 40+ accessible science labs, 5 experience zones, and learning spaces across schools and states. This shift reflects our broader strategic direction of creating scalable models that can be adopted, sustained, and replicated.

Our work this year was closely aligned with Vision Empower’s strategic goals: deepening social impact, becoming a leading source of accessible STEM education for students with visual impairments, strengthening stakeholder partnerships, and harnessing technology to advance independence, quality, and reach. These goals were reflected in the growth of accessible STEM content, teacher training for both pre-service and in-service teachers, meaningful learning resources, assistive technology adoption, volunteering engagement, stronger operational systems, and improved programme management.

Our programmes reached 17 states and impacted over 13,800 lives, including more than 10,300 students and more than 3,500 teachers.

A key shift over the years has been our movement from being largely people-dependent to becoming more process-dependent. As our reach expanded, we strengthened systems for content creation, built subject matter expertise within the organisation, enhanced teacher capacity-building processes, improved monitoring and evaluation practices, and focused on the sustainability of our programmes. These efforts have helped Vision Empower build a stronger foundation for scale, quality, and continuity.

To strengthen data quality and programme monitoring, Vision Empower leveraged and customized the Waliku operations dashboard system.

Screenshots of the Waliku operations dashboard used for programme monitoring — Screenshots from the Waliku dashboard

The platform captures school, student, teacher, session, event, and intervention data through digital forms linked to dashboards, enabling real-time tracking of reach, attendance, materials used, skilling hours, and programme coverage. This has strengthened documentation, reduced manual errors, improved review processes, and supported evidence-based decision-making across projects.

Another important highlight of the year was the growth of our team, both in size and capability. In 2025–26, Vision Empower grew to a team strength of 100+ members, strengthening our ability to reach more children, support more educators, and deliver programmes with greater consistency and depth. Our aim is not only to implement programmes, but to build an ecosystem where accessible STEM education becomes part of regular school practice.

As we reflect on the year, we remain deeply grateful to our partners, funders, schools, educators, students, volunteers, team members and their families, and well-wishers. Their trust, collaboration, and continued support make this work possible.

Key Highlights & Impact Numbers

States

10,300+

Students

3,500+

Teachers

151

Schools

1,000+

Hexis Devices

600+

Iris Devices

Accessible Learning Games Developed

1,200

Teacher Instruction Kits (TIKs) in Subodha

EXPERIENCE ZONES

40+

ACCESSIBLE SCIENCE LABS

9,700+

STEM SESSIONS

100+

SCHOOLS PARTICIPATED IN SCIENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS

1,555

DIGITAL LITERACY SESSIONS

5,759

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING SESSIONS

2,883

DIGITAL LEARNING SESSIONS

TEACHER WORKSHOPS

WEBINARS FOR TEACHERS

1,573

TEACHERS TRAINED

(In-service teachers and pre-service teachers)

989

TEACHERS PREP SESSIONS

4,463

VOLUNTEERS ENGAGED

10,329

VOLUNTEER HOURS

VOLUNTEERING EVENTS

Impact Beyond Numbers

Our greatest achievement this year was not only the number of labs established or sessions delivered. It was the confidence of a child independently conducting a science experiment, the willingness of a teacher to embrace new teaching approaches, and the growing belief among schools that accessibility is not an add-on, but an essential part of quality education.

Arohan Infy Awards: Recognition for HEXIS

Recognised Vision Empower's work in advancing accessible reading and independent learning for children with visual impairments through HEXIS.

Intel – Concern India Social Good Grant

Placeholder: Support and recognition through the Intel and Concern India Social Good Grant.

Wipro earthian Award for an Odisha school

Wipro earthian Award: Odisha School

Placeholder: Recognition through the Wipro earthian Award for work with an Odisha school.

Microsoft – AI for Good

Placeholder: Recognition for Vision Empower's contribution to Microsoft's AI for Good initiative.

QS Reimagine Education Awards 2025 – Shortlisted

Placeholder: Vision Empower was shortlisted for the QS Reimagine Education Awards 2025.

Inclusive Education Summit 2026

Placeholder: Recognition presented at the Inclusive Education Summit 2026.

Cognizant Foundation Recognition

Placeholder: Recognition from the Cognizant Foundation for Vision Empower's work.

Our Footprint and Reach

This is a graph that shows the increase in each area this year- 67% increase in students, 6% increase in teachers, 2% increase in volunteers, 0.6% increase in schools, 6.25% increase in states reached from the previous year. The map of India with the states we are present in are also marked.

Vision Empower's reach and impact across financial years
Year	Students	Teachers	Volunteers	Schools	States
25–26	10,300	3,500	4,463	151	17
24–25	6,155	3,298	4,378	150	16
23–24	2,976	1,555	923	134	14
22–23	2,154	1,249	500	105	13