Our Organisations and Their Roles

One broader mission, distinct responsibilities

WARA’s vision is to connect learning with practical capability, purposeful work, livelihoods and service to society. Pursuing this vision involves different kinds of activity: developing people’s skills, making learning accessible, connecting capabilities with genuine needs, and organising services sustainably.

These activities may support one another, but they should not be confused with one another.

Our organisational approach distinguishes three roles:

• Charitable and educational development: helping people develop capabilities and supporting community needs.
• Commercial operations: organising sustainable services and marketplace activities through a commercial enterprise.
• Institutional collaboration: working with other organisations where a shared purpose, appropriate responsibilities and mutually agreed arrangements make collaboration possible.

This separation helps make responsibilities clearer for learners, families, customers, donors, employees, service providers and institutional partners.

Wara KarmaYoga Foundation

The charitable and educational role

Wara KarmaYoga Foundation is intended to carry the charitable, educational, skill-development and community-development dimensions of the mission, within its approved objects and applicable law.

Its role is centred on developing people and capabilities rather than operating as the commercial marketplace.

Subject to its governing documents, resources and the arrangements established for each initiative, its work may include:

• Supporting access to digital literacy, education and vocational skill development.
• Developing learning pathways, training materials and practical learning methods.
• Supporting learners who face financial or other barriers to participation.
• Seeking eligible philanthropic, CSR or public-supported resources for appropriate programmes.
• Supporting community learning initiatives and capability development.
• Facilitating suitable training, practice and assessment arrangements.
• Working with educational institutions, trainers and other organisations where appropriate.

The Trust’s specific activities must remain within its approved charitable objects, governance requirements and applicable law. The list above describes the intended scope of its work, not a claim that every activity is currently running.

Stewardship of charitable resources

Resources received for charitable purposes must be managed according to the Trust’s governing documents, donor or funding conditions, and applicable law.

The purpose is to advance the Trust’s authorised objects, not to distribute charitable assets or surplus as private profit to trustees. Any permitted expenditure, reimbursement, service arrangement or other transaction must have an appropriate basis, documentation and approval under the applicable rules.

Where a charitable programme uses facilities, services or other resources supplied by a commercial organisation, the responsibilities, costs and terms should be documented clearly. The charitable purpose of an activity does not remove the need for financial transparency or proper governance.

Wara Systems

The commercial operating role

Wara Systems is intended to develop and operate the commercial side of the broader WARA ecosystem. Its role is to organise products, services and marketplace operations through a commercially sustainable model.

Potential areas of activity include:

• Developing and operating the WARA or KarmaYoga Marketplace.
• Connecting customers with suitable service providers and organisations.
• Organising commercial service delivery and related operational processes.
• Providing technology, business systems and other commercial services.
• Developing customer relationships and managing service commitments.
• Supporting service quality, communication, transaction records and operational accountability.
• Building commercial relationships with businesses, institutions and independent providers.

These are intended areas of responsibility. A particular service, marketplace feature or provider network should be described as available only when the necessary arrangements and operational capability exist.

The marketplace is intended to be open to suitable external organisations and service providers, subject to its applicable participation requirements. It is not intended to be limited to services delivered by WARA-affiliated organisations alone.

Commercial sustainability and accountability

Commercial operations require clear customer terms, appropriate pricing, dependable delivery, responsible handling of information and transparent treatment of payments and disputes.

Wara Systems is intended to pursue commercial sustainability through legitimate business activity. Its commercial obligations, revenues, costs, liabilities and governance should be managed in accordance with its own legal and regulatory requirements.

A shared mission does not make the company and the Trust interchangeable. Commercial activity should not automatically be treated as charitable activity, and charitable funding should not be treated as general company revenue.

Any arrangement between the Trust and Wara Systems must be considered on its own merits, documented appropriately and handled in accordance with applicable law, governing documents, funding conditions and relevant approval requirements.

Potential institutional collaborators

Collaboration where there is a shared purpose

WARA recognises that education, skill development and community service often require capabilities and resources that no single organisation possesses.

Schools, educational institutions, training providers, community organisations, businesses, charitable institutions and other suitable bodies may therefore have opportunities to collaborate on particular initiatives.

Potential forms of collaboration include:

• Jointly planned learning or community-development activities.
• Access to suitable facilities, equipment or learning resources.
• Contributions of specialist knowledge, trainers or mentors.
• Development or delivery of agreed training activities.
• Practical exposure and opportunities to apply demonstrated skills.
• Support for eligible programmes through agreed funding or in-kind contributions.

The form of collaboration will depend on the purpose, the organisations involved, the available resources and the responsibilities each party is prepared to accept.

A common interest in the mission does not, by itself, establish a partnership, financial commitment, agency relationship or continuing obligation. Each initiative requires explicit agreement on its scope and terms.

How the roles can work together

The organisations can support different stages of a wider learning-to-work pathway without losing their separate responsibilities.

For example, a proposed vocational initiative might involve the following roles:

1. Learning and social support: The Trust may organise or support an eligible training initiative, subject to available resources and appropriate arrangements.
2. Institutional contribution: A school, training institution or other collaborator may provide agreed facilities, expertise or learning support.
3. Practical application: Learners may develop and demonstrate capabilities through suitable practice and assessment.
4. Commercial opportunity: Where a genuine need exists, Wara Systems or another suitable organisation may independently organise relevant services or marketplace participation under agreed terms.
5. Accountability: Each organisation remains responsible for its own commitments, records, finances, legal obligations and quality requirements.

This is an illustration of a possible operating model, not a claim that the complete pathway is already in place. Participation in training does not guarantee access to marketplace work, employment, paid assignments or income.

Understanding the separation

The roles may complement one another, but no organisation automatically assumes another’s responsibilities.

Governance and transparency

The credibility of this model depends on clear boundaries in practice, not merely in organisational descriptions.

WARA’s intended approach is to maintain:

• Clear institutional identity: Each organisation is identified accurately, with its own legal status and governance.
• Documented responsibilities: Activities, deliverables, costs, funding responsibilities and decision-making authority are agreed before implementation.
• Appropriate financial separation: Charitable and commercial resources are accounted for and used under their respective legal and contractual requirements.
• Responsible use of shared resources: Any use of facilities, staff, technology or services across organisations has a documented basis and appropriate approvals.
• Transparent public communication: Proposals, confirmed arrangements and operational services are described distinctly.
• Accountability to stakeholders: Learners, customers, donors, employees and collaborators receive accurate information about who is responsible for each activity.

Specific arrangements must be reviewed against the governing documents and applicable legal, tax, regulatory and funding requirements. A public description of roles does not substitute for the agreements and controls required to implement them.

One purpose, clear boundaries

WARA’s broader purpose is to connect capability with responsibility, work and service. The Trust’s charitable and educational role, Wara Systems ’s commercial role and the contributions of potential institutional collaborators can each help advance that purpose in different ways.

The aim is not to merge these responsibilities into a single undifferentiated structure. It is to enable appropriate cooperation while preserving legal identity, financial accountability and clarity about who is responsible for what.

That clarity is essential to building trust, protecting the purpose of charitable work and creating sustainable opportunities for people and communities.

Read more about WARA’s vision, mission and values, how we work, and how to partner with WARA.