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Tag: Sanjay Purohit

Creating Systemic Impact (2)
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The Convergence Foundation co-hosts a landmark conference on ‘Creating Systemic Impact’

Jun 26, 2024 by Sujata 0 Comments #‘Creating Systemic Impact’, #Bikkrama Daulet Singh, #C4EC, #Centre for Exponential Change, #CEO of Janaagraha, #CEO of Veddis Foundation; Shruti Shibulal, #Chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, #Chief Curator of Centre for Exponential Change, #development practitioners, #Director of Tamara Leisure Experiences; Srikanth Viswanathan, #Give India, #India Impact Sherpas (knowledge partner), #Murugan Vasudevan, #Operating Partner, #philanthropists, #Praveen Khanghta, #Rohini Nilekani, #Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, #Sanjay Purohit, #Sanjay Purohit’s book, #Sumit Tayal, #System Support Organisations (SSOs), #The Convergence Foundation, #the systems change approach, #Think Scale, #Think Speed, #Think Sustain, #thought leaders, #unlock funding for systemic impact, #Unlocking Funding for Systemic Impact

Bengaluru, 26th June 2024: The Convergence Foundation, in collaboration with Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Centre for Exponential Change, and India Impact Sherpas (knowledge partner), hosted a landmark conference on ‘Creating Systemic Impact’, bringing together development practitioners, thought leaders and philanthropists to focus on the practices and enablers of systems change.

Organizations that adopt the systems change approach—System Support Organisations (SSOs)—work closely with governments at both the central and state levels to create large-scale impact by addressing the root causes of problems rather than applying quick fixes or band-aid solutions.

In the keynote address by Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, she emphasized, “This decade is one of the most critical decades in human history, demanding inclusive and exponential social change. We have the best chance ever now to create a different future than is feared. But for that, we need risk capital deployed strategically and urgently to reduce the friction between Samaaj, Sarkaar, and Bazaar, and unlock the true potential of each. Philanthropists and foundations must step forward NOW! Let’s think bigger, be bolder in our collaborations, and place better bets on leaders who are invested in systemic change.”

The Convergence Foundation

A highlight of the conference was a panel discussion on ‘Unlocking Funding for Systemic Impact’, moderated by Praveen Khanghta, Head of Strategy and Investments at The Convergence Foundation. The panel featured esteemed speakers including Murugan Vasudevan, CEO of Veddis Foundation; Shruti Shibulal, CEO and Director of Tamara Leisure Experiences; Srikanth Viswanathan, CEO of Janaagraha; and Sumit Tayal, CEO of Give India.

Bikkrama Daulet Singh, Operating Partner at The Convergence Foundation, while emphasising the urgent need to unlock funding for systemic impact, stated, “The systems change approach holds the highest potential for transformative change. Philanthropists seeking maximum return on investment should prioritize supporting organizations that collaborate with governments to achieve scalable and sustainable results. It is crucial for philanthropists and system orchestrators to learn, reflect, and continuously align their efforts to maximize their collective impact.”

The conference also featured the unveiling of Sanjay Purohit’s book, Think Sustain, the third instalment in the Think book series. The book was launched by Rohini Nilekani. Alongside Think Scale and Think Speed, Think Sustain aims to inspire change that leads to impactful transformations. These Think books serve as companions in the journey to achieving impact at scale.

Sanjay Purohit, the author, CEO, and Chief Curator of Centre for Exponential Change, expressed his gratitude at the conference, saying, “C4EC is an emerging space for co-creation and collaboration bringing together system orchestrators, diverse enablers, and influencers to enable exponential change journeys. The reason why we co-founded this Centre is because we know that the exponential change journey is long and winding and we all need to come together to inspire these ripples of change. Like we strive to conserve natural systems (such as coral reefs and rainforests) that sustain the health of our planet, we must strive to enable system orchestrators, who ensure the health of our society.”

The conference marked a significant step towards fostering collaboration and innovation in addressing India’s complex challenges at scale. The commitment and insights shared by the participants underscored the potential of systems change to drive sustainable and impactful development across India.

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Institutional well-being for social change: EdelGive Foundation emphasizes on the need to create sustainable and future-ready grassroots organisations

Jan 27, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments #Arnav Kapur, #EdelGive Foundation, #Moutushi Sengupta, #Naghma Mulla, #Sameer Shisodia, #Sanjay Purohit, #well-being

Chennai, January 27, 2022: Civil society organisations across India are feeling the adverse impact of COVID-19 as they continue to provide relief and support to the underserved communities during the pandemic. The lack of resources has hindered their growth and functioning, while several NGOs have faced the risk of forced closure. In an effort to tackle this, EdelGive Foundation introduced GROW Fund (Grassroots, Resilience, Ownership, Wellness) – a first-of-its-kind unique financial initiative that aims to redefine collaborative philanthropy and help grassroots organisations to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and become future-ready.

To discuss the creation of sustainable and resilient grassroots organisations, EdelGive Foundation organized a roundtable conversation on January 24, 2022, with the theme of Institutional Well-being. Representatives from leading Indian and international philanthropic institutions, namely Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rainmatter Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Societal Platform and Dalyan Foundation joined Naghma Mulla, CEO, EdelGive Foundation, to discuss how institutional well-being can prove to be a successful approach towards more effective social change. The discussion was moderated by Smarinita Shetty, Co-founder and CEO, India Development Review.

Talking about the theme and GROW Fund, Naghma Mulla, CEO, EdelGive Foundation, said, “Lack of support in building institutional well-being and development has led to several inefficiencies as the prime focus is on program-specific funding. COVID-19 proved to be a wakeup call as it severely burdened the already strained resources of grassroot organisations. Through GROW Fund, we aim to make capacity-building more consumable and adoptable by the NGOs by facilitating cross-learning and providing funding dedicated to organisation development. We are focusing on our goal of helping the changemakers internalize the learnings gathered over the course of next two years into institutional structures.”

Sharing his views Sameer Shisodia, CEO, Rainmatter Foundation, mentioned, “Unless there is adoption of solutions at the ground level, there will only be short-term success that would fade away once a project cycle is over. The NGOs are the real changemakers and have the necessary social capital and perspective to come up the right solutions. Their institutional well-being should be promoted by helping them to increase their capacities to absorb technology, financial models and systemic solutions. We need to empower the non-profits to think bigger and support continuity in their approach and operations. NGOs cannot be event managers and have to be strengthened at the organisational level.”

Discussing the ways to bring institutional well-being in focus, Moutushi Sengupta, Director – India, MacArthur Foundation, said, “As funders, we need to be quite flexible in our approach. We need to provide long-term support to enable civil society organisations and help them figure out their pathway in a more meaningful manner. We need to provide mentorship and hand-holding to help them figure out the best way to deal with diverse set of situations. In order to successfully drive the conversation on organisational well-being, the power of networks and collaborations needs to be wielded and NGOs should connect with the larger ecosystem.”

Elaborating on the importance of institutional well-being, Sanjay Purohit, Chief Curator, Societal Platform, said, “Organisations and individuals need to introspect their responsibility to help the changemakers that have taken up the mantle of tackling some of the most complex issues at grassroots level. Therefore, it is imperative that we work to build up their resilience and mutual trust. It should not be about ROI and impact measurement but about building a cadre of leaders and institutions who can hold the civil society in a better stead as we go along. We need to change the perception that philanthropic capital should only be used for direct impact.”

Arnav Kapur, Lead – Philanthropic Partnerships, India & South Asia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Yonca Even Guggenbühl, President, Dalyan Foundation also shared their opinions around reducing the negative stress of the grassroots organisations and focusing on long-term engagements to drive institutional well-being and support future-readiness in a sustainable way.

Traditionally, external funding has been directed towards scaling up existing programs of NGOs. However, there is a need to look deeper into organisational well-being and improve the capacities of these grassroots changemakers. This would help the NGOs in improving their processes, efficiency, financial resilience and most importantly prepare them for adversities of the future.