India's Educate Girls, founded by Safeena Husain in 2007, has carved a place in history as the first Indian non-profit to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award often referred to as Asia’s Nobel Prize. The award recognizes its groundbreaking efforts in bringing out-of-school girls from underserved rural communities back into classrooms and pushing educational inclusion.

What began as a pilot across 50 villages in Rajasthan has since grown into a powerful movement spreading across 30,000 villages, enrolling over 2 million girls, and delivering remedial support to 2.4 million children, achieving a remarkable over-90% retention rate.

Educate Girls pioneered the world’s first Development Impact Bond (DIB) focused on education a pay-for-performance model that links funding to measurable outcomes. The organization also runs Pragati, an open-schooling initiative helping adolescent women between 15–29 to complete secondary education.

Safeena Husain called the accolade a “historic moment for the country”, emphasizing how the recognition shines a global spotlight on India’s community-powered quest to challenge norms and remake futures one girl at a time.