DEET - Development of Education and Environmental Trust

Who we are

DEET emerges from the vision of experienced development sector professionals, led primarily by women committed to social transformation. We dedicate ourselves to empowering marginalized communities, with a special focus on children, women, and the Dalit community. Our mission is rooted in creating pathways to dignified, sustainable lives for these underserved groups. We believe that true empowerment stems from education, economic independence combined with social awareness. Through our participatory approach, we harness the inherent strength and wisdom of communities to drive meaningful change. By fostering education, economic capabilities and critical consciousness, we facilitate holistic development across social, economic, psychological, and political dimensions.

Our collaborative network with international partners, enabling us to implement comprehensive solutions that address systemic inequalities. Since our founding, we have successfully executed community-led initiatives across multiple regions, impacting thousands of lives annually. DEET operates with transparency and accountability at its core, ensuring that resources directly benefit those we serve while building sustainable community institutions. Our team brings diverse expertise in social work, education, gender studies, housing and economic development to create interventions tailored to local contexts and needs. We remain committed to amplifying marginalized voices and creating spaces where community members become architects of their own progress, rather than passive recipients of aid. This philosophy guides everything from our program design to our organizational structure and decision-making processes.

Vision & Mission

• Vision: To create a society where marginalized and underprivileged children, women, and elders thrive through equitable opportunities and inclusive development.
• Mission: To build resilient communities by providing comprehensive support in education, healthcare, housing, and livelihood opportunities, while empowering marginalized groups to achieve sustainable social and economic independence.

What We Do

DEET catalyzes comprehensive community transformation through strategic, multi-dimensional interventions focused on education, livelihood development, and secure housing solutions. Our network of eight supplementary education centers provides robust academic support and enrichment for students from Lower Kindergarten (LKG) through 12th standard, creating educational foundations that serve over 220 sponsored students annually. Additionally, we maintain a dedicated higher education initiative that enables 20 promising youth from marginalized backgrounds to pursue college and vocational training, breaking generational barriers to advanced learning opportunities. Beyond education, our holistic support system extends to 51 vulnerable families, providing essential resources, counseling, and case management to address immediate needs while building pathways toward long-term stability.

Our economic empowerment programs train and equip 50 women each year through specialized skill-based livelihood training across diverse sectors including textile production, sustainable agriculture, food processing, and digital literacy. These initiatives not only generate immediate income but also establish sustainable microenterprises that transform household economies. Our housing initiative addresses one of the most fundamental human needs by constructing 50 safe, dignified homes annually for families living in precarious conditions. Each dwelling is designed with community input to ensure cultural appropriateness while meeting standards for durability, sanitation, and disaster resilience. These carefully integrated programs reflect our unwavering commitment to creating sustainable, positive change through holistic community development approaches that recognize the interconnected nature of social challenges and leverage community strengths to address them systematically.

History

DEET’s journey began in 2007 when our Executive Director, Mrs. Premalatha, transformed her personal understanding of struggle into a mission for social change. Having witnessed her widowed mother’s resilience in raising a family, she recognized the profound challenges faced by single mothers, widows, children, and elders. This deep personal insight led her to unite with like-minded social workers, founding DEET as a dedicated platform for community empowerment. What started as a personal mission has grown into an organization that continues to transform lives through comprehensive support and sustainable development initiatives.

Mrs. Premalatha’s formative experiences shaped her understanding of the intersecting challenges of gender, economic vulnerability, and social marginalization. Her mother’s determination to provide education despite financial hardships became the cornerstone of DEET’s philosophy that education and economic independence are essential pathways out of poverty. In the organization’s earliest days, Mrs. Premalatha gathered a small team of five dedicated social workers who shared similar lived experiences and professional expertise in community development. They began with modest outreach programs in Madurai’s rural settlements, focusing initially on educational support for children from single-parent households and skill development for women heads of families.

The years that followed saw DEET grow from a localized initiative into a recognized development organization with dedicated staff, and diversified funding sources. Strategic partnerships with international foundations enabled the scaling of successful interventions. Throughout this expansion, the organization has remained steadfastly committed to its founding principles of dignity, empowerment, equality, and transformation—values that are reflected in its name and embedded in its approach. Today, DEET operates across multiple districts, implementing integrated programs that address the complex challenges facing marginalized communities. Despite its growth, the organization maintains the personalized, compassionate approach that characterized Mrs. Premalatha’s initial vision, ensuring that each individual served by DEET receives the support needed to transform personal struggle into strength, much like the journey that inspired the organization’s founding.