Atma was initiated by Adrienne van Dok (the Netherlands ) and Hayley Bolding (Australia) in November 2007.

“Atma” means “soul” in Hindi. It was the soul and spirit of the children of Mumbai that inspired the founders to start an organization that functions as a change agent for local projects.

Atma believes that education is fundamental in the development of each individual. In order to best aid India 's children, it was recognized that a new and focused approach was needed in order to support local NGOs working to support children through education.