We started our journey to promote Early Child Development (ECD) in 2013 with local Anganwadi workers. The goal was to support and empower the Anganwadi workers (AWW) to deliver the ECD curriculum. We selected villages in remote and underserved rural areas of Wardha and Nagpur Districts in Central India.

Household incomes in this area are limited to forest/farm produce and daily wages, and the population is socially and economically disadvantaged. The traditional socio-cultural practices were predominant, and women were responsible for household work, child care, and work for income as daily wage laborers.

In 2016, the program was named "Stepping Stones" with a vision to develop a sustainable, locally adaptive model to promote the ECD in rural areas with the potential of scaling through the government ICDS program.

Every child lives up to their full developmental potential and contributes to Nation Building.

To actualize the Vision, "Stepping stones" program recognizes the importance of early child development for achieving SDG -4 and ensuring the lifelong learning.

Stepping stones program works collaboratively with parents, caregivers, service providers, and other stakeholders to enhance parents' skills and competencies for responsive and joyful parenting using a contextually and socio- culturally adaptive program. This program prioritizes the first 1000 days of life as they are crucial for a child's development.