Learning's that can be derived from the social sector need to be transplanted into many corporations today to make them more humane and connected with the needs of the world
One of the most evocative speeches at the recent Livelihoods Conclave of Social Venture Partners was made my Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson of Thermax and SVP Pune. Addressing the point “what makes me show up” which was one of the themes of the three-day conclave, Meher spoke about her own and her family’s deep involvement in the social sector. And a statement that she made resonated with all of us. Many believe that inducting people from the corporate sector into the management of NGOs and social missions can bring corporate discipline and practices into the social sector. But Meher argued that the Learning's that can be derived from the social sector need to be transplanted into many corporations today to make them more humane and connected with the needs of the world.
The more one thinks about this argument, the more it sounds true. We are living in a world where societies are being torn apart by multiple fissures and the actions of many global political leaders are threatening to destroy the façade of globalization that we had hoped will truly unite global communities. The UN commitment towards the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be attained by 2030 will need Governments, Corporate, Civil Society and individuals to all come to the party and this will need the best ideas from the social sector to become all pervasive in our search for new and more humane societies.
At the conclave itself, multiple exemplars presented ideas that are scaling, thanks in some part at least to the active involvement of Social Venture Partners teams at the local and national level. The support of the Tata Trusts and some corporations is also beginning to take our brand of engaged venture philanthropy to large national entities like Mann Deshi, SEWA and the Pan IIT Reach for India movement, even as forty plus local initiatives across seven cities in India spread their wings and expand local and, in some cases, national impact. Two of these examples are the excellent models of Pune City Connect for inner-city youth and Youth 4 Jobs for the physically challenged community
Youth 4 Jobs founded and led by Meera Shenoy started in Hyderabad and has now been assisted to set up their centers in multiple cities. And Pune City Connect, set up many of us from the corporate sector and led by IIM Ahmedabad Batch of 1995 alumnus Ruchi Mathur with its vision of a “Sampoorna Pune “through dedicated Skills Lighthouses, Digital Literacy centers and model municipal schools in the fifteen municipal wards of Pune Municipal Corporation is now in the process of incorporating technology into its student management and skilling processes. This will be then taken to other locations in the country by multiple partner organizations who have assisted in building and will now scale the model from 10,000 to 1,00,000 youth in the next few years.
Employed, Empowered and Entrepreneurial India has to become the watchword for the next few years, if we have to perform to our potential as a leading economy of the world. Let’s make it happen
The spirit of collaboration and partnership which is what SDG 17 is all about was truly in evidence at the conclave with Sofia SVP International Chair and Sudha, Global CEO leading a delegation from the USA and Japan, Skills Secretary KP Krishnan and NSDC CEO Manish speaking about the future of skills, jobs and entrepreneurship and Naina Batra Chairperson of global philanthropy network AVPN flying in from Singapore to interact with nearly three hundred participants, all committed to the agenda of building a million sustainable livelihoods by 2022. And the presence of national and global foundations like Wadhwani, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and UNDP and many CSR Heads from most of the large financial institutions and tech companies made the non-profits in the room feel wanted and potentially funded!
There has never been a time when the creation of livelihoods in the country has been more important than now. The Centre for Monitoring the India Economy has reported a decline in employment from 406 to 400 million and a 1.5 % rise in the unemployment numbers. We can present other data to prove better job creation but the unarguable fact is that job creation has been low and the creation of entrepreneurs to limit the need for job seekers has also been inadequate.
With over ten million of our brethren entering the job market every year, we will need entities like SVP to build new models of mobilization, aspiration creation, skilling, placement and mentoring that can be taken to a large scale by well-meaning social entrepreneurs. Employed, Empowered and Entrepreneurial India has to become the watchword for the next few years so, if we have to perform to our potential as a leading economy of the world. Let’s make it happen!
By Dr. Ganesh Natarajan
