Chennai: Over the next 12 weeks, 35 socially and financially underprivileged girls and first-generation learners at Stella Maris College will be trained in developing self-confidence, communication skills and workplace readiness.The free of cost initiative is part of the Global Shapers Community-Chennai hub in collaboration with the college.Titled ‘See, Believe, Become’, the programme will offer offline and online mentorship sessions for these students, training them in mastering ‘three C’s’ — communication, clarity and confidence. On Saturday, the programme’s third cohort was inaugurated at the SMC. In the last two cohorts held in 2024 and 2025, more than 60 students were mentored.The initiative by GSC-Chennai, a youth-based network of the World Economic Forum, is being held in partnership with Stella’s department of economics. A memorandum of understanding was exchanged between GSC-Chennai and the PG & Research Department of Economics of the college on the occasion.“Most of the girls in the cohort are top academic achievers with high ambition. But what they lack is the access, awareness of resources and opportunities and mentors. Our initiative aims to bridge this gap and empower them,” said Aishwarya Ganesh, founder and project-lead, See, Believe, Become.The mentors are volunteering working professionals sourced through GSC-Chennai from across the globe. The sessions will include orientations, goal mappings, career assessments, confidence-building activities and interactive group sessions to build communication skills.Participants in the previous cohorts said the programme helped them build interpersonal skills. “When I joined the first session in 2024, I was very nervous. Today, I can speak with confidence and have presented five research papers and published two,” said S Divyadharshini, a student of the first cohort.K Mohanapriya, senior programme lead, Tamil Nadu Model Schools, who was the chief guest at the event, urged the participants to remain positive and not try to figure out their entire life at their age.Jayalakshmi, head, department of economics, said that the college was pleased to formalise the partnership and support its continued growth.
