Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT)
A Feminist, Collective-Led Organization Building Girls' and Young Women's Leadership Through Technology
About FAT
Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT) might not be what one usually expects from a conventional non-profit organization. You will not find a founder and executive director at the top of a hierarchical organizational chart, a top-down managerial structure, a rigid distinction between direct and indirect beneficiaries, or success measured solely by the scale of operations and the number of people reached.
Navigating this website may therefore require a degree of decolonized understanding of how non-profits and social change are generally understood. FAT is collective-led, community-led, and participatory. It is built on the belief that the communities most affected by structural inequalities should also shape the decisions, leadership, and future of the organization.
In April 2026, FAT completed its transition into a young women-led organization. This also coincides with FAT completing 18 years of operation. Today, FAT is governed through its BeeHive Structure, a feminist, non-hierarchical model of collective leadership where the girls and young women who have grown through its programs now serve as Collective Leaders, Champions, Companions, and members of the Managing Committee. Rather than seeing participants as recipients of change, FAT recognizes them as co-creators of knowledge, leaders, and custodians of the organization's future.
Our Origins
Established in 2008, Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT) has worked with girls and young women from socio-economically disadvantaged and marginalized communities in four states in India to build agency, collective leadership, and access to technology and STEM education. Since its inception, the organization has been guided by a fundamental question posed by its founder, Gayatri: What would it take for girls and young women from marginalized communities not only to access technology, but to shape it, question it, and lead through it?
The answers did not emerge from a strategic plan alone. They emerged through conversations, experiments, and collective learning with the girls and young women who participated in FAT's earliest workshops. Over the years, the participants' reflections, evaluations, and experiences informed the curriculum, pedagogy, and organizational philosophy that continue to shape FAT today. In this sense, the organization was built not only for girls and young women, but with them.
The FAT Model
Today, FAT has three interconnected programs, each responding to the intersecting realities of patriarchy, socio-economic marginalization, and unequal access to technology at different stages of girls' and young women's lives. Together, they form the FAT Model — a continuum of learning and leadership shaped by nearly two decades of practice and the experiences of participants themselves.
1. Young Women's Leadership Program (YWLP)
The organization's first major community-based program took shape in 2010 with the establishment of the Tech Center in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi, following two years of community engagement and workshops that began soon after FAT was established. What started as a space for girls to learn computer and internet skills quickly evolved into a safe feminist space where conversations about technology became inseparable from discussions on rights, education, mobility, gender norms, violence, aspirations, and leadership.
Through years of reflection and curriculum development, this work was formally launched as the Young Women's Leadership Program (YWLP) in 2015. Since then, more than 2000 girls and young women have participated in the program.
- Level 1 — Implemented via Community Tech Centers (CTC); fosters individual agency in girls aged 14–18. Between 2023 and 2025, seven community tech centers were operational.
- Level 2 — Focused on collective action; cultivates collective leadership among girls aged 16–19.
- Duration — Each level is one year long.
2. Girls in STEM (GiSTEM) Program
As participants expressed a growing interest in science and technology, FAT undertook research in 2013 to understand the barriers girls faced in STEM education. The findings led to the creation of Jugaad Labs in 2014, which later evolved into the Girls in STEM (GiSTEM) Program — creating hands-on learning spaces where girls build confidence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics while challenging gender stereotypes.
- Level 1 — Ignites curiosity and interest in STEM subjects among girls aged 10–13.
- Level 2 — Implemented via Girls' MakerSpaces; provides a dedicated space for girls aged 14–19 to explore, design, and experiment using a variety of technical tools. Between 2023 and 2025, two Jugaad Labs were operational.
- Duration — Each level is one year long.
3. Collectivization Initiative (CI)
As successive cohorts completed these programs, many returned as facilitators, mentors, and community organizers, demonstrating that leadership flourishes through long-term engagement rather than one-time interventions. Building on this learning, FAT evolved the Collectivization Initiative (CI) in April 2022, creating pathways for young women to organize, mentor, and lead within their own communities.
- This is currently Level 3 of FAT's program, and lasts three years.
- As of July 2026, one Delhi-based collective has been formed by three leaders (graduates of the Level 3 program) who now run the community tech center in Delhi, and 50 participants are enrolled in the program.
Geographic Locations
FAT works in India, with its headquarters in Delhi. While the Delhi headquarters organizes state and national level learning, sharing, and advocacy events, our main work is at the community level with girls and young women in the following geographical locations.
- Bihar: Patna, Patna City, Pashchim Champaran, Buxar, Gaya, Jahanabad, Vaishali, and Kishanganj
- Jharkhand: Giridih, Madhupur, Bokaro, Hazaribagh
- Delhi: South Delhi
- Maharashtra: Yerwada (Pune)