Draft:Smile Foundation

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Submission declined on 13 March 2026 by Athanelar (talk). This draft's references do not show that the subject meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for organizations and companies. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that: provide significant coverage: discuss the subject in detail, excluding routine coverage like product launches, staff appointments, or financial reports and listings in databases or listicles; are reliable: from reputable outlets with editorial oversight; are independent: not connected to the subject, such as press releases, the subject's own website, or sponsored content. Please add references that meet all three of these criteria. If none exist, the subject is not yet suitable for Wikipedia. If you would like to continue working on the submission, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window. If you have not resolved the issues listed above, your draft will be declined again and potentially deleted. If you need extra help, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. Please do not remove reviewer comments or this notice until the submission is accepted. Where to get help If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews. If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed. How to improve a draft Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia. Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Add tags to your draft Editor resources Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs Declined by Athanelar 3 days ago. Last edited by SocialTanwar 25 hours ago. Reviewer: Inform author. This draft has been resubmitted and is currently awaiting re-review.

• Comment: Your sources need to provide significant, in-depth discussion about the organisation itself, and not merely report on its normal operations. Athanelar (talk) 21:01, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Smile Foundation is an Indian non-profit development organisation based in New Delhi. It was founded in 2002 by Santanu Mishra, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), along with a group of corporate professionals who chose to dedicate themselves to social causes. The organisation works in four areas: education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment. It operates across 27 states of India, running over 400 projects that collectively reach nearly two million underprivileged children and families every year.^[1] The organisation has been described as an example of venture philanthropy in India, adopting a social venture capital model focused on scalable grassroots impact.^[2]

Smile Foundation was established in 2002 when Santanu Mishra and a group of colleagues with corporate backgrounds decided to work towards social development in India. Mishra, who had previously worked in the corporate sector for fifteen years before leaving in 2005, co-founded the organisation with the aim of applying venture capital principles to social development work.^[3] The foundation started with a focus on child education and gradually expanded its scope to cover healthcare, livelihood support, and women empowerment over the following years.

The organisation holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2012 and is a member of the United Nations Global Compact. Its quadrennial report for 2020–2023 was noted by the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations at its 2025 resumed session.^[4]

In November 2017, the 14th Dalai Lama delivered a talk on universal responsibility and compassion at an event hosted by Smile Foundation at the NCUI Auditorium in New Delhi. At the event, he acknowledged the foundation's work in education for underprivileged children and announced his intention to support its activities over the following five years.^[5]

Mission Education is the foundation's flagship education programme for children who are out of school or at risk of dropping out. It runs learning centres that offer bridge courses, remedial classes, digital tools, and socio-emotional support, with the aim of helping children re-enter and continue in the formal school system. The programme emphasises community involvement as a key strategy, working with parents and local bodies to address the social and economic factors that cause children to leave school.^[6]

Smile on Wheels is a mobile healthcare programme that provides primary health services to people living in rural areas and urban slums. It was launched in 2006 and operates through mobile medical units, boat clinics, telemedicine units, mobile dental clinics, and static clinics.^[7] The programme also works alongside ASHA and ANM workers at the community level. In 2026, Smile Foundation conducted an eye health awareness camp in Gya-Miru Village, Ladakh, in collaboration with the CDSL-Ladakh Team, providing education on myopia and cataract prevention to remote communities.^[8]

Swabhiman is a programme focused on adolescent girls and women from low-income communities. It covers areas including gender sensitization, reproductive health, and livelihood skills development.

This livelihood programme provides computer training, spoken English, and soft skills to young people between the ages of 18 and 30. It aims to improve their prospects for employment in sectors such as retail, hospitality, and business process outsourcing.

In 2010, Smile Foundation produced I Am Kalam, a Hindi-language film directed by Nila Madhab Panda, focused on the theme of child education and the Right to Education. It was the first feature film produced by a development organisation in India. The Wall Street Journal described the film as produced by "the education and health nonprofit Smile Foundation", noting its focus on a young boy from rural Rajasthan.^[9] The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and travelled to more than 60 countries, winning around 40 awards in various categories.^[10] The lead actor Harsh Mayar received the National Film Award for Best Child Artist in 2011.^[11]

In 2024, Santanu Mishra received two awards at the 34th Odisha State Films Awards organised by the Department of Culture, Government of Odisha. His documentary Manayun: My Wonderland received the Best Documentary award, and the film Torch received the Special Jury Award. Both films were selected for the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.^[12]

Smile Foundation organises the Smile International Film Festival for Children and Youth (SIFFCY), an annual film festival focused on children's cinema. The festival, which began in 2013, has grown to become one of Asia's largest children's film festivals.^[13] The 12th edition, held from 28 January to 3 February 2026 in New Delhi, was organised in partnership with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under India's Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Delegation of the European Union to India. The festival featured over 150 films from more than 35 countries and included outreach screenings across more than 100 locations nationwide.^[14]

Smile Foundation has worked with several corporate organisations on projects in education, healthcare, and livelihood. These include an engineering scholarship for girls in partnership with Deutsche Bank across colleges in Bengaluru, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Pune,^[15] and a mobile healthcare unit launched in Chennai in collaboration with Athenahealth.^[16]

• Official website