World Alliance for Youth Empowerment (WAYE) is a non-profit, non-governmental, apolitical, non-religious youth organisation, registered as a public charitable trust in the state of Karnataka, India founded in 2006 with the objective of holistic development of the youth. WAYE is a NGO Member of GCN India and is a UNGC signatory and today is one of the leading capacity building and life skills training organizations in the world, focusing on the youth.

WAYE has involved itself in activities that interest the youth to take up social responsibility. It is a Youth-Oriented Community Development organization working with the youth, their families, communities, corporates, organizations and governments to bring about positive change and sustainable development. Knowing that youth are one of the most powerful assets of the society they specialize in building the capacity of the youth .

WAYE has a transformational life skills program called the YES!+ (Youth Empowerment & Skills Workshop) through which it works towards the physical, spiritual, social and economic empowerment of the youth aged between 18-30 years. It engages the youth in projects of social relevance in collaboration with multi lateral organizations such as the United Nations, Central and State Governments, Corporates and NGOs. More than 1 lakh youngsters have participated in the workshops in India.

WAYE has a presence in about 50 cities in India and has a pool of about 250 trainers and 2,000 young dedicated volunteers!

WAYE was founded by Khurshed Batliwala and Dinesh Ghodke both graduates from IIT Bombay.

Following his graduation, Khurshed Batliwala found his calling in with The Art of Living Foundation, a grass-roots level NGO based in Bangalore. He is a teacher of the Art of Living Foundation. Khurshed is one of the Directors of the World Alliance for Youth Empowerment (WAYE) and has co-founded the premier global youth initiative the Youth Empowerment and Skills Workshop-YES!+. Khurshed loves to cook and keeps a blog (www.bawandinesh.name) where he puts up his own recipes. He also plays the piano.

Dinesh Ghodke graduated from IITB in 1997 and then joined as a software engineer with Infosys Ltd. He joined as fulltime faculty with The Art of Living Foundation in 1999. He has empowered thousands of youth through various innovative initiatives of yoga, sports and social projects. He has also reached out to a broad spectrum of the general populace including politicians, corporate executives, youth from the rural and urban areas and even hardcore terrorists through programs on stress and trauma relief, life skills, ethics, and human values.

For more information on the World Alliance for Youth Empowerment, check out  www.wayeonline.org.