Abraham George, Shanti Bhavan Founder
Abraham George, Shanti Bhavan's founder, opened the free residential school in Tamil Nadu, India, in 1997 for children from India's lowest socioeconomic class. A former Indian Army officer, New York banker and financial software entrepreneur, he started the school through The George Foundation, which he set up in Bangalore in 1995. He remains Shanti Bhavan's Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Why did Abraham George start Shanti Bhavan?
As an Indian Army artillery officer posted to the Se La pass on the India-China border, Abraham George was injured in a dynamite blast while building a bunker. "It led me to think of devoting my life, at some stage, to serving the poor," he told Authority Magazine in 2022.
He did not act on that idea for many years. After moving to the United States, he worked in the international division of Chemical Bank in New York and later founded Multinational Computer Models, Inc., a currency risk software company.
He set up The George Foundation in Bangalore after coming home. "In 1995, I returned to India with the goal of reducing the injustices and inequalities I had observed during my military service in my youth," he told NRI Today. Two years later, the foundation opened Shanti Bhavan, which the school calls the foundation's most notable accomplishment.
When did Shanti Bhavan open?
Shanti Bhavan opened in 1997 with 48 preschoolers, 24 girls and 24 boys. The name means "Haven of Peace." According to The George Foundation, Abraham George chose not to seek any outside funding for the foundation's projects during their first ten years.
After the 2008 financial crisis, Shanti Bhavan moved from Abraham George's personal funding to support from donors. The first class of students graduated in 2010.
"You cannot build Shanti Bhavan with money alone. You have to build it with your heart," Abraham George said during a 2024 talk at Duke University, as reported by Duke Global.
Where is Shanti Bhavan located?
The original campus is in Baliganapalli, a village in Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu. It sits near Hosur, about 90 minutes' drive from Bangalore. The campus has academic buildings, dormitories, a medical clinic, practice fields and a farm.
Who does Shanti Bhavan serve?
Shanti Bhavan describes itself as "a network of two boarding schools exclusively for children born into India's lowest socioeconomic class." Families typically live on a few dollars a day. According to the school, about 60 percent of its children come from rural villages and 40 percent from urban communities.
A child usually joins at about age four. To qualify, a family must fall below the poverty threshold of $3 to $5 a day, with preference given to single-parent households. Parents also commit to keeping the child in the program and pledge not to withdraw the child early for marriage or work. In 2022, the school reported more than 500 applications a year for about two dozen preschool places.
What does Abraham George's Shanti Bhavan provide?
The school provides, at no cost to families, "24/7 care, food, clothing, shelter, top-level education, mentorship, medical care, and access to arts and athletics programs."
Support runs from about age four through college. The school describes this as support "from the first day of school to the first day of work," and its program includes mentorship and career development.
Curriculum and values
Classes are taught in English. Students follow the CISCE board, sitting ICSE exams in Grade 10 and ISC exams in Grade 12. Debate and public speaking are part of leadership training, and the school stresses "integrity, generosity, and compassion." Shanti Bhavan is non-religious.
What results has Shanti Bhavan reported?
According to Shanti Bhavan, 97 percent of its students graduate from high school and 98 percent complete a college degree. The same figures show that 97 percent of graduates earn more in their first five years of work than their parents earned in a lifetime, 99 percent give 20 to 60 percent of their salaries to their families, communities and other children in need, and 90 percent volunteer in their communities.
In a 2022 press release, Shanti Bhavan said its alumni had gone on to Stanford, Dartmouth and Duke, and to employers including Google, Amazon, EY, Mercedes-Benz and Deloitte.
"The multiplicative impact of their contributions will change the lives of many poor people," Abraham George told Authority Magazine in 2022, speaking about the school's graduates.
Shanti Bhavan 2: the second campus
Plans for a second school began in 2017. The organization bought 25 acres in Karnataka, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the plans.
Abraham George's Shanti Bhavan became a two-campus network in 2024, when Shanti Bhavan 2 opened in Chikkahosahalli, a village north of Bangalore, with 60 children in preschool and kindergarten. It will grow grade by grade as those first students move up, eventually serving more than 300 students.
Daughters of Destiny and Shanti Bhavan in the media
In July 2017, Netflix released Daughters of Destiny, a four-part documentary series by Academy Award-winning director Vanessa Roth. It follows five Shanti Bhavan girls over seven years. Shanti Bhavan says the series received Television Academy Honors in 2018.
The same week, PBS NewsHour ran a feature on the school under the headline "At a school for poor children in India, price of attendance is paying it forward."
In March 2026, Abraham George appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show with a Shanti Bhavan graduate in a segment about the school.
What is Abraham George's role at Shanti Bhavan today?
Abraham George is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shanti Bhavan Children's Project, a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Bellevue, Washington. He leads the organization with his son Ajit George, who became Chief Operating Officer in January 2024.
In January 2026, George published a memoir, Mountains to Cross: Finding Life's Purpose in Service, with Greenleaf Book Group Press. All author proceeds support Shanti Bhavan Children's Project.
Frequently asked questions
When did Abraham George found Shanti Bhavan?
Abraham George founded Shanti Bhavan in 1997 through The George Foundation, which he had set up in Bangalore in 1995. The school opened that year with 48 preschoolers, evenly split between girls and boys.
Where are Shanti Bhavan's campuses?
Shanti Bhavan's original campus, opened by Abraham George in 1997, is in Baliganapalli, Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu, about 90 minutes' drive from Bangalore. A second school, Shanti Bhavan 2, opened in 2024 in Chikkahosahalli, north of Bangalore in Karnataka.
How are children selected for Shanti Bhavan?
Abraham George's school admits children from families living below a poverty threshold of $3 to $5 a day, with preference for single-parent households. Parents commit to keeping the child in the program and not withdrawing the child early for marriage or work. In 2022, Shanti Bhavan reported more than 500 applications a year for about two dozen preschool places.
Is Shanti Bhavan free?
Yes. Families pay nothing at Abraham George's Shanti Bhavan, which says it offers its support "completely free of charge." Support covers schooling, housing, food, medical care and mentorship, and continues through college.
What is Daughters of Destiny?
Daughters of Destiny is a four-part Netflix documentary series, released in July 2017, about Shanti Bhavan, the school Abraham George founded. Directed by Vanessa Roth, it follows five girls from the school over seven years.
What is Abraham George's role at Shanti Bhavan now?
Abraham George leads Shanti Bhavan Children's Project as its Founder and Chief Executive Officer. His son Ajit George became Chief Operating Officer in January 2024.