Consulting and Research

Consulting grounded in community

As PPI grew, institutions began asking how they could go deeper. STRIDE, a new-age think tank shaping India's youth policy aspirations, works with foundations, governments, IGOs, think tanks and corporates, from focused research commissions to multi-year retainers. We serve partners who serve India, to deepen institutional engagement.

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What STRIDE supports partners with

Six service lines, one capability

Strategic Policy Communication and Outreach

Turning complex policy ideas into clear, compelling communication that reaches the right audiences and builds meaningful engagement.

Youth Engagement, Mobilisation, and Advocacy

Creating spaces for young people to participate, lead, and take collective action on the issues shaping their futures.

Public Opinion, Pulse Survey and Perception Analysis

Listening to what people think and feel, turning public opinion into insights that inform stronger decisions and strategies.

Policy Research and Stakeholder Mapping

Policy briefs, budget analysis, risk assessment and sector synthesis for foundations, think tanks and government bodies.

Organisational Positioning

Narrative development, brand architecture and outcomes documentation for organisations at pivotal moments.

Programme Design and Implementation

Bespoke training, curriculum design and convening design. Delivered in-person and virtually, internationally.

Why this works

Community and consulting, working as one

Every piece of consulting STRIDE delivers is grounded in the same community that makes PPI credible. When a foundation needs to reach young Indians, when a government body needs a brief that lands, or when a university needs an outreach partner, STRIDE brings both the analytical capability and the trusted access in one relationship.

From scoped project to embedded partner

Most relationships begin with a single service line and grow from there. Engagements range from time-bound research commissions to long-term retainers that embed PPI and STRIDE in a partner's strategy.

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The team on the ground at a partner’s 25-year milestone event — On the ground for a partner's 25-year milestone.

Selected work

Some of the work we are most proud of

Each engagement is different, and each is rooted in the same expertise and community access.

Outreach partnership · Since 2021

The Catalyst Group (CMS + Swasti)

From a weekly column to a five-year, multi-entity relationship

What began as an editorial partnership through the Climate and Health Corner in PPI's newsletter grew into five active workstreams running to 2028 — design and curation of Catalysing Social Impact 2024, the 16th Finance Commission disaster management submission, and the strategic brief behind Swasti's Centre for Strategic Communications for Public Health, which now operates as a named unit within Swasti. CSI 2024 drew 300+ attendees and mapped ~200 stakeholders.

Policy convening and dissemination · Dec 2024 – Jan 2025

CoinDCX

A curated room for an unsettled sector

Virtual digital assets have a persistent problem in India's policy space: every meeting requires extensive education before any real debate begins. PPI designed and delivered a closed-door New Delhi convening for CoinDCX, hand-picking 45 attendees from think tanks, parliamentary offices and policy schools — against a target of 30–35 — and disseminating the accompanying discussion paper across The Policy Post. Result: 5,000+ downloads by working policy professionals and 18,000 newsletter readers reached at a 35% open rate.

Coalition research · November 2025 – May 2026

CommonHealth (via Sahaj, Vadodara)

Mapping the politics of SRHR, state by state

CommonHealth needed a structured, evidence-based reading of the political and policy environment around SRHR — and found that no integrated evidence base existed. STRIDE built it: a first-of-its-kind database from parliamentary records, state health indicators, archived materials and regional media, covering 1,000+ mapped stakeholders. The report fed directly into CommonHealth's five-year strategic plan and became a fundraising collateral. STRIDE is now in a continued partnership on stakeholder engagement and national health budget analysis.

Ecosystem mapping and messaging · September 2022 – March 2023

Right to Protein (FleishmanHillard)

The mapping that shifted a national campaign's core argument

Right to Protein's advocacy was aimed squarely at government — but the researchers, commentators and think tanks who supply the evidence ministries eventually cite were untouched. STRIDE mapped four streams of stakeholders by policy influence rather than visibility, built stakeholder-specific messaging and disseminated across PPI's community. On STRIDE's recommendations, the campaign shifted its framing from vegetarianism to nutritional outcomes and socio-economic benefits — in both its policy advocacy and its public communications.

Narrative strategy and implementation · June 2025 – June 2026

Cohesion Foundation Trust

Giving 25 years of quiet work a national voice

Cohesion's development impact across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh ran well ahead of its visibility. STRIDE conducted an in-person organisational assessment in Ahmedabad, built a communications strategy, mapped stakeholders and supported Roots and Horizons: 25 Years of Development Through Her at India Habitat Centre in June 2026. The press release was carried by The Print, Business Standard and others. The engagement has since extended into a two-year implementation mandate running to 2028.

Policy community outreach · Since 2025

Embassies and International Institutions

A credible route to India's young policy community

Diplomatic missions run substantial public engagement operations — and all of them need credible access to young, policy-engaged Indian audiences. PPI has built that route over six years. Current partners include the American Center (New Delhi), Russian House (2nd Russia-India Youth Forum, 200+ young professionals in attendance), and The Maple Bridge with the High Commission of Canada — building policy, AI literacy and civic engagement across Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

Admissions outreach and convenings

Kautilya, Hertie, ISDM, Anant, MIT-WPU, Rishihood

One operating system for six institutions in a single admissions cycle

Six policy schools wanted to meet prospective students where they already gather. PPI built a shared operating system — standardised outreach, co-branded creative, newsletter placements, chapter mobilisation and in-person Policy Circles — across 16 cities in one cycle. Result: 25 Policy Circles, 1,700+ direct registrations, and a consolidated registrant pool shared back with every partner. ISDM's Admissions and Outreach team called PPI "a valuable outreach partner in helping us introduce development management as a meaningful career pathway."

Partners and the team at a CommonHealth convening — With partners at a CommonHealth convening.

Flagship convening

The National Policy Forum, 2026

The National Policy Forum is Public Policy India's flagship annual convening, bringing leaders from across India's policy ecosystem into one room to work on the questions shaping its future. The inaugural edition ran on the eve of Independence Day: 14 August 2026, at the India International Centre, New Delhi. Read the coverage in The Tribune →

No keynotes, no panels. The Forum ran as a chaired consultation built on a simple belief: the most valuable expertise is already in the room. Around sixty senior stakeholders from government, academia, think tanks, philanthropy, industry and civil society, including Shri Baijayant Panda, MP, as Chief Guest, arrived with one question the ecosystem should confront and one assumption worth challenging, and the conversation was shaped by The State of Policy in India, 2026 and the perspectives in the room.

An evening of firsts

The inaugural Forum marked six years of Public Policy India, publicly launched STRIDE, and introduced SPI 2026. Convening is also something STRIDE builds for partners: high-trust forums around your focus area, in any city and any format, drawing the right people to real outcomes.

Convene with STRIDE →

What partners say

Trusted by the institutions we work with

I have had the opportunity to collaborate with the PPI community for nearly three years across various public policy programmes. PPI has consistently connected us with some of the most talented and aspiring individuals looking to build careers in public policy and governance, and what makes it special is its commitment to nurturing a strong community of future policy professionals and changemakers.

Saurabh Basu ChowdhuryBranding and Marketing Manager, Rishihood University

PPI over the past six years has done a great job demystifying public policy careers. By bringing people together and sharing information across different channels, PPI is filling an important gap.

Aparajita BhartiFounding Partner, The Quantum Hub; Co-Founder, YLAC

Public Policy India has been a valuable outreach partner in helping us introduce development management as a meaningful career pathway. Their engaged community created an excellent platform for ISDM to showcase opportunities in the development sector, and we appreciate their support in connecting aspiring changemakers with purpose-driven career possibilities.

Sanjana KaushikManager, Admissions and Outreach, ISDM

PPI has been an important companion in Cohesion's organisation-development journey over the last two years. Their facilitation enabled us to sharpen our strategic direction and bring greater visibility to the rich body of work that Cohesion has built over 25 years.

Cohesion Foundation TrustFoundation partner

Beyond India

Engagements with global institutions

PPI and STRIDE have worked with diplomatic missions and international institutions that need a credible, trusted route into India's youth policy community. Partners include the U.S. Mission to India, the Russian House, and the High Commission of Canada — through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) grant, 2026–27 — building policy literacy, AI awareness and civic engagement among gender-balanced youth across Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

The team at the American Centre, New Delhi — At the American Centre, New Delhi.

The PPI booth at the Russian-Indian Youth Forum — At the II Russian-Indian Youth Forum, 2026.

A faculty convening hosted with the US Mission to India — A faculty convening with the US Mission to India.

Tell us what you are working on

Whether it is a scoped research commission or an embedded, long-term partnership, the conversation starts the same way.

Start a conversation See our research