AU Yashotsav Celebrates 8 Years of AU Foundation’s Grassroots Impact

AU Foundation, the CSR arm of AU Small Finance Bank (AU SFB), India’s largest Small Finance Bank and the first in over a decade to receive in-principle approval to transition into a Universal Bank, today hosted 1^st edition of AU Yashotsav, a celebration of eight years of grassroots impact, with the children,  women and youth including specially abled who turned opportunity into achievement through hard work, resilience, and the courage to rewrite their own futures while uplifting their families.

The event was graced by Ms. Jyoti Agarwal, Co-founder, Sanjay & Jyoti Agarwal Foundation and Professor Ramesh Arora, Chairperson,  Management Development Academy alongside project beneficiaries.

A Stage for the Journeys Behind the Numbers

Over the last eight years, AU Foundation has reached over 3.6 million beneficiaries through its flagship and strategic programmes. At AU Yashotsav, the Foundation felicitated selected beneficiaries who have excelled in their respective domains with cash awards, trophies, and certificates:

• AU Ignite : 36,500+ youth skilled through AU Ignite, with over 72% linked to formal employment. The programme’s top honour, the Skill Icon award, was conferred on Suraj Singh of Bharatpur; the son of a handloom street vendor. After training under Tourism & Hospitality domain, Suraj secured an international placement with a top-tier US cruise line at a salary of ₹1 lakh per month. Also felicitated was Adit Yadav of Ajeetgarh, who trained as a Salesforce Developer at the AU Ignite Future Skills Academy and now works as a Software Developer at a reputed IT company in Jaipur, getting an annual package of ₹4.82 lakh, a reflection of the Foundation’s growing focus on future-ready digital skills.
• AU Udyogini has nurtured 5,995+ women, including 3,926+ through individual entrepreneurship and 2 community enterprises. Women entrepreneurs running businesses from garment shops and beauty parlours to embroidery collectives and community farming enterprises were felicitated for sustained business performance.
• AU Bano Champion has trained 10,000+ grassroots athletes across 7 sports disciplines, supported by 100+ trained coaches, with beneficiaries winning 4 international medals, 130+ national, 650+ state, and 1,700+ district-level medals. Among those honoured was Khushi Rana of Jodhpur; the daughter of a taxi driver, who won a Bronze Medal in the 49 kg category at the Under-15 Asian Boxing Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (May 2026), alongside national medallists in Wushu, Kabaddi, football, and athletics.

Beyond its flagship and strategic programmes, the Foundation’s community development work under AU Kartavya spans across education, healthcare, environment and sustainability, road safety, disaster management among others. AU Yashotsav marks 8 years of AU Foundation, a formal milestone, but the spirit behind it is much older. Giving back to society has always been part of AU’s ethos since its inception over three decades ago, long before AU Foundation gave it a name. In AU’s forever journey, its Foundation is consistently focused towards contributing to Viksit Bharat.