History 

Founding

GPM was founded in 2012 by former hi-tech executive Jacob Sztokman turned social entrepreneur. On a visit to Mumbai in 2011 while working for an internet security firm, Jacob toured the city’s slums and was deeply moved to work on the issues of poverty and illiteracy among the children of India. Troubled by what he saw and motivated to help make a difference, Jacob met with grassroots Indian NGOs who provided research, experience and expertise, and instilled in him the belief that change is possible. Together they developed a model for combining long-term and short-term solutions by bringing international volunteers to work on food distribution and literacy, the signature GPM Eat to Learn program providing hot, nutritious meals for children in school. This model became the foundation of GPM.

In June 2012, as Jacob left hi-tech behind for good, providing nutrition and literacy for 500 children every day. By the end of the school year, GPM had grown to  providing daily hot nutritious meals for 750 children. Today, GPM runs it own schools in both the Kalwa slum and the Shilonda village region, and provides nutrition, and health care to over 1000 children in these vulnerable communities. GPM has also opened a series of communal development project in order to address root causes of poverty and promote long-term growth for the entire community.