Mumbai, Oct 22 (IANS) At 17, while pursuing his studies at Nord Anglia International School Dubai, Rehaan Chowdhary is working to make financial education more accessible to women in India. Through The Prosperity Project, which he founded in 2025, he has reached 420 learners across West Bengal and Maharashtra, with workshops covering everyday financial decisions such as budgeting, savings, borrowing and recognising financial fraud.
The idea emerged from conversations with Shampa, who has looked after Rehaan since birth. Learning about financial fraud that had affected her family prompted him to consider how greater financial awareness could help people protect their savings and make informed decisions about their money.
An interest in finance that had initially centred on his own learning developed into an initiative focused on practical financial education. Rehaan created Knowing Your Money, a ten-module curriculum and textbook designed to explain financial concepts through familiar situations and accessible examples.
“I wanted to make financial education practical and relevant to the decisions people face in their everyday lives. It is not just about knowing how money works, but about being able to ask the right questions, understand the risks involved and make informed decisions about your own money,” says Rehaan Chowdhary, Founder of The Prosperity Project.
The curriculum covers budgeting, wages, savings, borrowing, investments, digital payments, financial fraud and emergency planning. Workshops use practical examples to explain how to track household expenses, compare loan repayment terms, assess financial offers, protect banking information and understand the risks associated with different financial products.
The initiative began with workshops in Baruipur, West Bengal, in collaboration with Bandhan-Konnagar and with support from Bandhan Bank. It subsequently expanded to Asansol through Bengal Shristi Infrastructure Development Limited and FEED. The programme also reached a workplace setting through Indo Count in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, where workshops involved 200 women.
According to figures provided by The Prosperity Project, the initiative has reached 420 direct learners across these collaborations: 40 through Bandhan-Konnagar, 70 through Bengal Shristi Infrastructure Development Limited, 110 through FEED and 200 through Indo Count.
An important component of the programme is its Community Resource Person (CRP) model, which aims to extend learning beyond individual workshops. Rehaan has trained 40 CRPs through the Bandhan and Bengal Shristi collaborations, equipping them to share the material with others. These CRPs are included in the 420 direct learners; people reached through subsequent teaching are not included in that total. The project has also developed teaching videos, multilingual resources and a website to enable participants and facilitators to revisit the curriculum.
The workshops are adapted to the language and circumstances of different participant groups. Sessions are conducted in Hindi and English, with local teams providing language support where required. At Indo Count, local support helped facilitate Marathi translation.
The programme also incorporates before-and-after assessments to examine participants’ understanding of the material and identify concepts that may require further explanation. Rehaan has developed a supporting measurement system for matching participant responses, scoring assessments and organising data. Follow-up tools are intended to examine what participants retain and whether they report applying the learning in their daily lives. An impact report is being finalised. The report and detailed outcome findings will be shared separately and published on the project’s website.
The Prosperity Project plans to extend its work through additional community organisations and employers, with a focus on locally relevant teaching, facilitator preparation and follow-up learning. The longer-term aim is to enable organisations working with women to use the resources and support local facilitators in continuing financial education within their communities and workplaces.
The initiative addresses an important dimension of financial inclusion: access to financial services is only one part of the equation; understanding how to use them, assess risks and make informed decisions is equally relevant. Through its workshops and community-based approach, The Prosperity Project seeks to equip women with practical knowledge to better understand their financial options and manage their money.
–IANS
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