Leading the Way with NAAM – Empowering Sri Lankan Youth

The epitome of humility is when one has the ability to pass down your knowledge and experience to the younger generation. And those who do it without any persuasion, and not expecting anything in return are a different league of humans. NAAM, is an organization that was set up to do just that. 

Spearheaded by veteran radio presenter and journalist K.C.Pragash (KCP), NAAM is a foundation that was set up to provide leadership training and soft skills development sessions to underprivileged youth. For more than a decade KCP has conducted more than 70 seminars in rural schools for a total of 20,000 students. The sessions have been held in areas such as Hatton, Nuwaraeliya, Thalawakelle, and Kandy in the Central province, and Puttlam in the North Western Province. 

All these seminars are conducted free of charge. Initially all costs were borne by KCP himself, but over the years the NAAM Foundation has garnered support from his listeners and well-wishers from around the world. 

The main aim of these seminars is to build confidence among these children who usually live underprivileged lives where sometimes even their basic needs are not met. Some of the children have no access to healthy meals, safe drinking water or even secure housing. However, the sessions speak to them about pushing through the hardships of life, placing importance on education, and inculcating entrepreneurship from a young age.  

KCP has more than 10 years of experience in the media and advertising fields, and was a graduate of the Mahatma Gandhi University in India. He uses his years of experience to empower the youth that he speaks to at these sessions. He is joined by several other journalists, media personnel, film-makers and professionals during the seminars to give the participants well-rounded motivational advice that transforms lives.