Kumar Bahukhandi
Magic Bus India Foundation, one of India’s leading NGOs in education and skilling, has been recognized by Great Place To Work® India among India’s Best NGOs to Work For 2025. This year, the organisation has also been honoured as the Social Impact Icon, a distinction reserved for NGOs that have consistently featured on the Great Place To Work® list for five consecutive years. The accolade reflects Magic Bus’ ongoing commitment to fostering an inclusive, empowering, and purpose-driven workplace where employees are inspired to create lasting positive change.
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Magic Bus India Foundation – An aspirational NGO to work for
As a global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work® has been studying employee experience and people practices across organisations for over three decades. Every year, more than 100 million employees from over 150 countries worldwide take the Great Place To Work® for assessment, benchmarking, and planning of actions to strengthen their workplace culture.
In this year for India, based on a rigorous evaluation methodology, 20 organisations among India’s Best NGOs to Work For 2025 have been recognized. These organisations, among other practices, particularly excel both on people practices that they have crafted for their employees and proactively acting on the feedback to create a High Trust Culture.
“The NGO Sector continues to be the cornerstone for social transformation, addressing some of society’s critical and complex challenges faced by society. To amplify their impact, NGOs consistently focus on creating great workplace experiences with their employees. This needs intentional leadership focus on key priorities such as fair pay, recognition, and integrity. These elements foster trust and enhance retention. Great Place To Work® India research shows that 86% of employees at Best Workplaces in NGOs report opportunities for special recognition, and 88% of employees believe management delivers on promises. Today, we are proud to recognise organisations that have truly made a remarkable impact and earned their place on the prestigious list of India’s Best NGOs to Work For 2025. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to each of them and celebrate their wins.” Balbir Singh, CEO, Great Place To Work® India.
Speaking about the recognition, Jayant Rastogi, Global CEO, Magic Bus India Foundation, said, “We are honoured to be recognized as the Social Impact Icon and to feature once again among India’s Best NGOs to Work For 2025. This achievement reflects our people-centric culture and the value-driven workplace we nurture every day. It belongs to every member of our team, whose dedication and passion drive our mission forward. At Magic Bus, we empower young people with skills and opportunities to break the cycle of poverty and build brighter futures, contributing to India’s economic growth. Our workplace culture is central to sustaining this impact.”
Monika Bawa, CHRO, Magic Bus India Foundation, said, “This recognition is a testament to the environment we strive to create at Magic Bus; one where employees feel supported, inspired, and motivated in creating a change that matters. Our teams bring passion and collaboration to every initiative, and being honoured as a Social Impact Icon highlights and reflects our unwavering focus on creating a workplace where purpose, trust, and inclusion drive everything we do. This recognition belongs to every team member at Magic Bus who lives our values and makes a difference every day. We remain committed to nurturing talent, fostering growth, and empowering our people to create lasting impact in the communities we serve.”
Magic Bus India Foundation is a people-first organisation that fosters growth, innovation, and inclusivity. With a culture that values agility and continuous learning, it empowers individuals to excel while driving meaningful impact. As one of the leading NGOs in education and skilling, Magic Bus equips young people from underserved communities with essential life skills, education enhancement, and employability skilling, enabling them to build brighter futures.
Backed by 30 years of data, Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Through its proprietary For All™ Model and Trust Index™ Survey, it gives organisations the recognition and tools to create a consistently positive employee experience. Its mission is to help every place become a great place to work for all, driving business growth, improving lives, and empowering communities. Through globally recognized and coveted Great Place To Work Certification™ and highly competitive Best Workplaces Lists, Great Place To Work enables employers to attract and retain talent, benchmark company culture, and increase revenue. Its platform enables leaders to truly capture, analyze and understand the experience of every employee, and compare outcomes with data collected from more than 100 million employees in 150 countries worldwide.
About Magic Bus India Foundation
Magic Bus India Foundation is one of India’s leading NGOs in education and skilling. Over the past 26 years, the organisation has expanded its reach and impact through innovative, inclusive, and gender-responsive programming. Building on its long-standing focus on young people (aged 12 to 25 years), Magic Bus is also empowering women aged 25 years and above, especially in peri-urban and rural areas, to enable their economic and financial independence.
Magic Bus has established a strong presence across 22 states and union territories, impacting the lives of young people from underserved communities. Through its two core programmes – Adolescent Programme and Livelihood Programme – Magic Bus equips participants with critical life and employability skills, enabling them to move out of poverty and lead sustainable lives.
The Adolescent Programme empowers adolescents (12-18 years) with life skills education and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN). To support this, Magic Bus has established an impressive network of 30,069 schools, 324 Community Learning Centres (CLCs) and has partnered with 10 state governments and NITI Aayog. Notably, 52% of the participants are girls, reflecting the programme’s strong focus on gender inclusion.
The Livelihood Programme prepares youth (18–25 years) from underserved communities for sustainable careers by imparting transferable life and employability skills. Magic Bus has set up 135 Livelihood Centres, partnered with over 1,100 colleges. 59% of the programme’s participants are young women, highlighting a strong emphasis on empowering women through skilling.
The Peri-Urban and Rural Livelihood Programme focuses on empowering women in these regions. This programme equips women with life skills, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills, enabling them to establish and sustain enterprises and move towards financial independence.
Through its sustained efforts, Magic Bus has empowered over 35 lakh adolescents and 5 lakh youth, enabling their transition from childhood to livelihood.
For more information, visit: www.magicbus.org.
