Pathways out of Adversity: Mani Chandana’s Journey to Transform Education
At the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC), our work is rooted in the belief that every child deserves to grow in an environment that nurtures their full potential. In India, the GC-DWC’s Project Sampoorna is helping make that vision a reality by supporting schools, training educators, and, most importantly, by listening to those doing the work on the ground.
In this first installment of the Pathways out of Adversity series, we highlight the story of Mani Chandana, GC-DWC program officer based in Hyderabad, India, whose personal journey into education is a powerful reminder of why this work matters.
“I was the child who stood outside the classroom.”
Mani’s path to working in the education sector was shaped by the struggles she faced as a young student. Raised by farming parents who moved to the city to give their children better opportunities, Mani’s early schooling was in a low-fee private school, where tuition payments were a constant challenge.
“I remember getting scolded by teachers for not paying fees,” she recalls. “They used to make me stand outside the classroom. That used to hurt a lot.” During high school, a headmistress' cruel comment about her appearance, spoken in front of the entire class during a school event, left a lasting scar. It deeply influenced her view of what it means to be seen, respected, and safe at school.
Despite these challenges, a few teachers recognized her potential, especially in English, and encouraged her to speak up. That mutual connection opened doors, academically and personally. “It felt good when someone saw me,” Mani says.
Still, navigating adolescence was not easy. Transitioning from a small private school to a central government school exposed her to new cultures, which came with their own set of challenges. She struggled to fit in and adapt. This experience helped her realize how transformative it can be to have someone who believes in you, guides you, and walks alongside you.
“Prepare, apply, and trust that the right door will open.”
After high school, Mani entered Telangana’s newly formed social welfare residential degree colleges as part of the “KG to PG” initiative, an effort to support students (especially girls from disadvantaged backgrounds) throughout their entire educational journey. This opportunity became a launching pad for her personal growth, and the beginning of her advocacy for better education. "I was not getting practical, real-world application knowledge of what I was being taught,” she says. Mani began questioning the system and speaking out for more practical, meaningful education.
"I used to escalate this to my principal often, and explicitly tell them that the teaching style wasn't helping us much." Her sense of injustice fueled her growth, but finances remained a persistent obstacle. Though accepted into a popular MBA program, her family could not afford the tuition.
“I was heartbroken,” she says. “But I had learned by then: prepare, apply, and trust that the right door will open.”
“That’s how I found education.”
Eventually, Mani was accepted into Azim Premji University, where she pursued an MA in Education. When she arrived, she was unfamiliar with even the foundational concepts of the field. “I didn’t know what the social sector was, what the status of education in India was, or how different organizations worked in this space,” she says. “I didn’t know anything.” But over the next two years, her perspective transformed.
A few conversations with professors became very meaningful and kept her going. She would volunteer for anything she believed had the slightest chance of giving her a glimpse of what the sector holds in store, to build her skills and knowledge. “I went from knowing nothing about education in India to finding my purpose in it,” she says.
She chose education not just as a career, but as a tool to rewrite the injustices she had lived through. What stayed with her was the desire to ensure no child would be dismissed, and that the role of a teacher would be rooted in care, not control.
“A Chance to See Themselves in a New Light”
Today, Mani works as a program officer for Project Sampoorna; she helps train and support teachers and teacher trainers, and ensures schools have the guidance they need to implement the program effectively.
One of the most powerful aspects of her work is creating spaces where teachers can reflect, grow, and sometimes unlearn. “I believe in exchanging knowledge across generations,” she says. “You can learn something massive from someone younger than you, and the same goes for older generations.”
She also sees the ripple effect of childhood experiences on future opportunities. “Children from vulnerable backgrounds carry baggage…of class, of cost, and of silence. If one aspect of their development is neglected, it hinders everything else, including their ability to pursue a career. Whole Child Development gives them a chance to see themselves in a new light.”
Yet, the work isn’t easy. The first visit to a school can be the hardest: “We might not know the principal, or they may have left a workshop halfway through. They're fielding constant calls. Breaking through that initial barrier is tough.”
Once relationships form, things begin to shift. But, sustaining that energy takes resilience—not only from her, but from the trainers in the field.
“Sometimes, trainers lose hope. They say, ‘Our principal doesn’t support us.’ I remind them: change doesn’t happen overnight. But it will happen. We’re not fixing everything at once, but small efforts, layered over time, lead to something bigger.”
“We’re building kinder, safer places.”
That’s how Mani describes the work she and her team are doing through Project Sampoorna. For her, it’s not just a job; it’s a deeply personal mission rooted in lived experience and quiet resolve.
She often reflects on what her experience in school might have been like if a program like Project Sampoorna had been there. “I would have had better relationships with my teachers. Maybe I wouldn’t have been body-shamed. Maybe I would’ve made friends who saw me for who I was.”
She adds, “In our schools, we weren’t allowed to talk about what was happening at home. But home affects school. They’re not separate worlds. If teachers had asked, they might’ve known me better. And I would’ve been happier.”
One Project Sampoorna activity that stands out to her is the practice of debrief questions after games or skits. “That pause for reflection—‘what just happened, what did I feel?’—that’s a habit that extends into your personal life. It helps you grow. It’s not just a pedagogical strategy; it’s a self-growth mechanism. And we’re embedding that into schooling.”
Resilience Meets Systems Change
Mani’s story is not only about personal resilience, but also a determination to rethink and repair systems that often fail the very people they’re meant to serve. She sees her work as operating on three fronts:
“First, we’re making schools kinder, safer spaces for children. Second, we’re helping adults unlearn harmful beliefs about children, and about each other. And third, we’re chipping away at the system itself.”
Even small efforts, Mani believes, are part of something larger.
In her words:
“We’re working to create kinder, safer places for children to just be themselves. That should be the bare minimum—and yet, it’s the hardest thing to achieve. Even if the effort is small, we’re contributing to the larger good. And that’s enough to keep going.”
Stay tuned for more stories from our Pathways out of Adversity series, where we spotlight the dedicated individuals behind Project Sampoorna who are working to transform education—one conversation, one classroom, and one child at a time.
Learn more about Project Sampoorna: https://iei.nd.edu/initiatives/gc-dwc/project-sampoorna
About the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC)
The Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child (GC-DWC) at the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame collaborates with researchers and practitioners to ensure the wellbeing—physical, emotional, social, and cognitive—of children and adolescents in low-resource and conflict-affected settings. Established to serve as a coherent platform for the Institute for Educational Initiative’s growing portfolio of global child development and learning programs, the GC-DWC creates environments that foster resilience and encourage children and adolescents to thrive. Using an innovative Whole Child Development (WCD) approach tailored to context-specific needs, the GC-DWC translates research into timely and thoughtful action, adapts research tools to improve the development of learning programs and policies, and activates systems (families, schools, communities) to lift children and adolescents out of adversity.
For more information about the GC-DWC, visit: https://iei.nd.edu/gc-dwc.
About the Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI)
Founded in 1996, the Institute for Educational Initiatives consists of more than two dozen initiatives that strive to improve education for all youth, particularly the disadvantaged, paying special, though not exclusive, attention to Catholic schools. Through research, the formation of teachers and leaders, and direct service to educational systems, the IEI’s scholars and practitioners pursue interdisciplinary collaborations to better understand and improve PK-12 education in the United States and around the world..
For more information about the IEI and its initiatives, visit iei.nd.edu.
