{"id":580,"date":"2025-07-13T14:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T14:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/?p=580"},"modified":"2025-10-13T14:13:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T14:13:44","slug":"20-years-of-light-of-life-trust-a-moment-to-pause-and-power-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/20-years-of-light-of-life-trust-a-moment-to-pause-and-power-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Years of Light of Life Trust: A Moment to Pause and Power Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In 2025, Light of Life Trust turned 20. Two decades of showing up, staying rooted,<br>and working to break the cycle of poverty across communities in five states.<br>To mark the moment, the team gathered at Symbiosis Skill University in Pune for our<br>22nd capacity building programme, Manthan 2025. It was a time to reflect, realign,<br>and remind ourselves why we do what we do. Over 190 team members came<br>together from across regions with one shared intention.<br>Villy Doctor opened the programme with a powerful message. She spoke about how<br>it all began, what keeps us going, and why this work matters now more than ever.<br>Ashdin Doctor followed with two questions that stayed with everyone. Whose life will<br>I transform today? How will I contribute to LOLT\u2019s future?<br>The three days that followed were packed with energy and clarity. We had sessions<br>that went beyond the usual. Alpa Shah talked about how women can take control of<br>their financial futures. Dr. Swati Mujumdar challenged the way we think about<br>education and careers. Akash Kadam showed how AI can be simple and useful for<br>everyday NGO work. Snigdha Sahal made networking feel more human and less<br>performative.<br>There was also honest conversation about where we\u2019re heading. In a session titled<br>Wings to Fly 2030, leadership laid out the path forward. National expansion, better<br>digital systems, stronger partnerships and a clear focus on quality and sustainability.<br>Outside the venue, real work was continuing on the ground. Our education material<br>drive began across Maharashtra, reaching students in Washim, Alibaug, Mangaon,<br>Pune, Uran and Yavatmal. Anant\u2019s tabla students made it to the finals of a national<br>competition. Senior leadership met with Rallis India to plan future collaborations. In<br>Karjat, our international donor from NT Assets visited the team and saw the impact<br>firsthand.<br>Before the event closed, we took time to recognise and thank team members who\u2019ve<br>given years of committed work. It was quiet, heartfelt and meaningful.<br>Manthan 2025 reminded us of the value of showing up with purpose. No shortcuts,<br>no noise. Just small, steady steps forward. As we look toward the future, we know<br>the work ahead will be just as demanding. But we\u2019re ready. And we\u2019re moving<br>forward, together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Priyanka Pereira<br>Founder, Phantom Words<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2025, Light of Life Trust turned 20. Two decades of showing up, staying rooted,and working to break the cycle of poverty across communities in five states.To mark the moment, the team gathered at Symbiosis Skill University in Pune for our22nd capacity building programme, Manthan 2025. It was a time to reflect, realign,and remind ourselves [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":583,"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions\/583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightoflifetrust.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}