Mentorship01
Walking with girls who have no one to walk with them.
Long-form mentorship for girls across Tamil Nadu — school, college, first job, first crisis.
Vol. I · A Living ProfileChennai · Tamil NaduEst. 2024
The Feature
Shalini Robert
Engineer · Athlete · Founder, The Roberts Trust Foundation
"Loss does not define you."
At twenty-two she stood on a Chennai road in bloodstained clothes for nearly an hour. No one stopped — they only filmed. Her father was gone. The work began there.
Today she is "Amma" to more than a hundred girls across Tamil Nadu — quietly, one verified home at a time.
Four pillars
The shape of the work, in her own words.
Education02
Tuition, books, and a quiet promise to keep showing up.
Sponsoring students through school and college so that loss never becomes the reason they stop learning.
Livelihood03
Small businesses, started by women who refused to wait.
Seed support and hand-holding for women launching tailoring units, kitchens, and home enterprises.
Family04
Five children. One home built out of love, not paperwork.
Adopted by the age of 23 — a household that became proof that family is something you choose.
Chapter One
From a roadside in Chennai to a lifeline across Tamil Nadu.
On 28 February 2022, Shalini lost her father in a road accident. For nearly an hour, she stood on a public road in bloodstained clothes, met only by bystanders filming her grief. That hour became the foundation of everything that followed.
The Roberts Trust Foundation was registered on 16 August 2024 — her father's birth anniversary — as a permanent institution extending her work to women, children, the elderly, the disabled, and the transgender community.
Read the full story@shalini_robert_
Follow the journey on Instagram.
Daily stories of hope, resilience, and the lives being touched across Tamil Nadu.
Visit @shalini_robert_Recently featured
On national broadcast, 2026.
BBC News Tamil2026
Featured in the Tamil Nadu First-Time Voters 2026 campaign.
A young voice on civic participation, mentorship, and what change looks like for Gen Z in Tamil Nadu.
Visit BBC Tamil →Sun Music Tamil2026
In-studio feature on grief, healing, and the Roberts Trust Foundation.
A conversation broadcast across South India on turning loss into a lifeline for others.
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