Who We Are
We are an academic program provider for expertly curated short-term, experiential learning programs across and beyond Asia.
Our key focus is to advance UN SDGs through education abroad. Our strength lies in providing
regional expertise and opportunities that create meaningful, transformational experiences.
VISION
A world enriched with meaningful travel learning experiences.
MISSION
To enrich lives- one person, one community and one amazing learning experience at a time.
Programs
- Faculty-Led Programs / Study Tours
Faculty-led programs are a curated blend of intellectual and cultural experiences based on unique and relevant themes. We collaborate with the faculty to arrange engaging and pertinent company visits, lectures by subject matter experts, and cultural experiences. The program’s goal is to help students achieve faculty-envisioned learning objectives while creating meaningful experiences for themselves. The faculty-led programs can either be available as custom or featured programs, depending upon the requirement of the institution.
- Service-Learning Programs
Service-learning programs in India engage the students in applying their knowledge and skills to projects that aim to improve community life and advance UN SDGs. The programs are enhanced by interactive workshops, design-thinking activities, hands-on fieldwork, and facilitated reflection sessions. They also enrich the participants’ lives on all four dimensions- physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. The service-learning programs can either be available as custom or featured programs, depending upon the requirement of the institution.
- Internships (In-Person, Virtual)
Internships offer meaningful, impactful, and high-quality academic internship projects that boost the employability of students. When the students apply classroom knowledge in real-world situations, they gain a deeper understanding of their subject as well as the local culture. We curate and manage appropriate projects in carefully vetted organizations that are aligned with the institutions’ vision and objectives. The internship programs can either be available as custom or featured programs, depending upon the requirement of the institution
- Professional Development Programs
Professional Development Programs provide opportunities for professionals to develop a leadership mindset and a global perspective. It helps them not just be in sync with times but be one step ahead. These programs give the participants exposure to innovative and efficient models that local organizations, governments, and educational institutions use. These immersive experiences inspire them to form new ideas and insights that they can apply to their own work and deliver more efficient and effective outcomes. The professional development programs can be customized to meet the objectives of the institutions.
Services
We provide academic and regional expertise across all our programs and locations.
Content
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Program Design
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Academic & Cultural Content Curation
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Pre-departure Briefing
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Design + Deliver Cultural & Language Sessions
Logistics
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Detailed Planning
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Booking all Program Components
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Program Delivery
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Visa Support Where Necessary
Support
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Vetting Vendors & Host Organizations
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Create Detailed Risk Management Plans
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Deliver Safety Briefings
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24x7 support
Core Purpose
Our core purpose is to enrich lives. We pursue this by designing and delivering academic programs
that promote holistic growth on the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual dimensions.
Physical
Wellbeing and Resilience
We preserve & promote participant wellness while building their resilience & adaptability to diverse environments and situations.
Emotional
Joy and Connectedness
We ensure that interactions with local communities are meaningful and evoke a sense of kinship.
Intellectual
Knowledge and Skills
Our programs not only enhance knowledge but also help build skills and attitudes that will serve students well in their careers and lives.
Spiritual
Growth and Impact
Our programs strive to broaden perspectives and provide clarity of purpose, fundamentally changing the person from within.
Our Core Values
Excellence
Efficient. Effective. Engaging.
We don’t settle for anything less than excellence. From co-designing to planning
and delivering the programs, we believe in giving our best, so that the students can have enriching and meaningful experiences.
Excitement
Energetic. Creative. Positive.
Positive energy is contagious. Our programs are infused with positivity, enthusiasm and creativity so that our participants can grow holistically and create a positive impact on the world.
Care
Caring. Nurturing. Wellbeing.
We care about our students, communities, partners, and team. We care about quality, health, and safety. We care about growth and impact. That’s why we pay meticulous attention to detail and are always at hand before, during, and after the programs.
Teamwork
Respectful. Trustworthy. Cooperative.
We believe in collaborative design. We work alongside the program directors, faculty members, partners, and communities to design and deliver programs that create meaningful growth.
Open
Honest. Sharing. Empathetic.
We embrace honesty and transparency in our thinking, communication, and execution. We give and take feedback without any judgment, so we can take every opportunity to improve and become better than yesterday.
Continuous Learning
Evolving. Growing. Enhancing
Growth never stops and learning never ends. We are constantly learning about the world outside and the world within to enhance the enrichment delivered by our programs.
Why Authentica?
Authentica is not just another study abroad program provider. Through our experiential learning programs, we deliver growth on all four dimensions: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. Our core competency is in providing academic and regional expertise so that the institutions can leverage our networks, knowledge, and years of experience to co-design programs that enable its participants to immerse themselves academically and culturally in a new setting.
Authentica is also committed to building a sustainable future for the planet. Hence, our academic programs are focused on UN Sustainable Development Goals. As there is less than a decade left to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, Authentica has taken the lead by working alongside its partners, participants, and community members to support the achievement of these goals.
We are:
Responsive
We get back to you quickly, usually within 24 hours.
Collaborative
From students to faculty to program directors to parents, we understand the needs of every stakeholder and incorporate them into our programs.
Service Excellence Oriented
We vet all our suppliers, service providers and host companies personally. It is our responsibility to provide you with the best that the location has to offer.
We believe in:
Safety Planning and Risk Management
Safety is our priority. We assess the risk for each destination and program and have an agile contingency plan for every possible situation. We mitigate risk with safety measures and programming adjustments. We have a granular risk management protocol that we strictly follow, and we are protected by a comprehensive liability insurance.
Equitable and Ethical Approach
Responsible travel is one of our key tenets. We believe that the experiences and interactions we create should offer value for everyone involved- both the visitor and the host. We work closely with local communities to ensure that we are equitable and respectful in our engagement.
Value for money
We keep our pricing strategically competitive to allow a diverse set of students to experience our programs.
We bring you:
Impactful Content
We do collaborative designing with faculty and program directors to achieve the goals and learning objectives of the institution.
Meaningful Experiences
Our academic programs provide opportunities that create meaningful experiences for our participants, which students thoughtfully reflect on in facilitated reflection sessions.
Enrichment and Fulfillment
We focus on creating enriching and fulfilling experiences that stimulate holistic growth and inspire the participants to create impact.
Meet The Team
Meet our talented and hardworking team, which is committed to providing program participants with the greatest experiences.
Ravi Raj
Founder and CEO
Ravi earned his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He has worked as a Social Enterprise Consultant at Eastside Consulting in London (UK) & as a strategy consultant with Oliver Wyman in the US. Ravi’s inspiration to start Authentica springs from his belief that authentic human connections in travels should be the norm rather than the exception,
Anitha Ramanna
VP, Academic Programs
Anitha earned her Ph.D. in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a post-doctoral fellowship from the International Food Policy Research Institute. She is a Fulbright Scholar and was affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. Anitha believes that education is about learning by doing and is passionate about Authentica’s mission to promote experiential learning.
Vedanth Maheshwari
Institutional Relations Manager
Vedanth is a mechanical engineering graduate from Gogte Institute of Technology, Karnataka. He has been associated with Authentica since 2017, where besides work, he also gets to pursue his passion for travelling. Vedanth believes that life must be bigger, better and bolder and travel makes that happen for him.
Isha Raturi
Chief Storyteller
Isha has received her master’s degree in mass communication from Symbiosis International University, and her bachelor’s in arts from Miranda House, University of Delhi. With more than a decade of professional experience, Isha has created content across print, radio, TV, and digital mediums. Isha believes that storytelling is a powerful tool to convey a message and create an emotional connection with the target audience.
Nikita Gaikwad
Social Media Executive
Nikita is a Mechanical Engineer and a creative individual at heart. She completed her BTech in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune, in 2019. She worked as a Graduate Engineering Trainee with Greaves Cotton Limited in the After Marketing Business for a while. However, she was always fascinated by digital creativity, which led her to join Ambitech Healthcare, a startup, as a Digital Marketing and E-commerce executive.
Smriti Chhabra
VP Partnerships
Smriti started her career working in advertising and marketing. However, later she shifted her gears to the field of “study abroad” and was heading the India office of organizations that send students from the US to other countries for study abroad programs. Presently, she works full-time in the ed-tech industry and continues to pursue her passion for study-abroad by consulting on experiential programs for Authentica.
Pranav Risbud
Account and Finance Manager
Pranav received his bachelor’s degree in commerce from Shivaji University, Kolhapur. He has been working in Pune for 10 years, specializing in the fields of Accounting, Income Tax, Audit and Finance.
Aishwarya Gawade
Senior Program Manager
Aishwarya holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration (Specialization: Marketing and Biotechnology) from Pune University. She was a Teach for India fellow before joining Authentica. She has been a certified Wellness Coach for the past 7 years and believes in living a joyful, balanced life.
Siddhanth Waghmare
Program Manager
Siddhanth holds a Master’s degree in finance and has worked across multiple industries (investment advisory, restaurant operations, healthcare operations and real estate, to name a few) in India and the Middle East. He believes in the statement “Seek Discomfort”, as life’s greatest experiences are outside our comfort zones.
Sanket Nikam
Visual Storyteller
Sanket holds a bachelor’s degree in Animation from Dr D.Y. Patil Arts, Commerce & Science College, Pune. He enjoys studying different art forms and taking inspiration from them, but he believes in creating original designs; designs that reflect his unique, authentic style. He refines his craft by consistently practicing it.
Partnerships
At Authentica, we believe in working with partners whose ethos matches ours and who are equally invested
in providing an enriching experience to the participants through the programs.
Affiliations
We are associated with organizations that are passionate and dedicated to creating a positive impact on the world through Education Abroad.
Careers
Working at Authentica is many things- it’s challenging, hands-on, creative, inspiring, and transformational… but, it’s never boring.
If you have or are willing to have a growth mindset- an aptitude to learn and grow on the job, this is the right place for you.
Click on the button below to join us now – promise you’ll be enriched by the experience.