The WASH Platform builds synergistic collaboration between multiple stakeholders from the Private Sector, Development Sector and the Government, to identify, implement and replicate high impact projects across the sanitation value chain, starting from the state of Maharashtra.
The platform is a joint initiative between Samhita Social Ventures and India Sanitation Coalition in partnership with The Government of Maharashtra, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with UNICEF and CEPT University as knowledge partners.
The Swachh Maharashtra Grand Challenge is a first-of-its-kind open innovation platform set up in partnership with a Government, corporate and social sector to identify, implement, nurture & replicate highly innovative, effective, scalable and sustainable sanitation projects. pic.twitter.com/mongfPWFyZ
— Devendra Fadnavis (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Dev_Fadnavis) March 8, 2019
In a time where majority stakeholders were concentrating on building infrastructure to achieve the mission of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Viacom18 utilized the weapon they knew best – storytelling to create lasting impact in a society that has long been captured by the screen.
The Viacom18 story
With the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission, availability and access to toilets had improved tremendously. But social and behavioural change communication were far from implementation questioning the long-term adoption of infrastructure usage. Lack of sanitation has many rippling effects.
The economic deprivation increases manifold when healthcare expenses and the cost of lost potential due to sickness arising from inadequate sanitation is added.
With the belief that sustained change in behaviour is at the helm of creating long term impact, Viacom18 worked with Samhita to design an intervention that aimed to address the issue of Open Defecation in Mumbai’s slums and inadequate sanitation in schools.
How did we impact 8,000+ lives
Samhita designed and implemented a community sanitation program with a focus on strong behaviour change in addition to providing basic infrastructure. Our theory of change centered around changing behavior, beliefs, and myths around toilets as a key to ensuring sustained open defecation free status in all communities and schools. The idea was to design visual messaging at key locations in slum areas, followed with awareness campaigns that brought together a social message with Viacom’s unique panache for storytelling.
Our vision of multiplying the impact by evolving the approach from infrastructure to behavioral change was distributed in 3 stages.
The global effort to achieve sanitation and water for all by 2030 is extending beyond the household to include institutional settings such as separate washrooms in schools and workspaces.
About 94% of women are employed in the informal sectors, according to the National Women’s Commission. Such informal sectors lack basic sanitation facilities including toilets. Public toilets, even if available, are often unsanitary and poorly maintained. Without access to toilets, women and girls develop coping strategies like drinking less water that in turn increases the risk for women’s health problems and their well-being, especially in times of menstruation. The extent of the problem is large in the school ecosystem across India
With the mission to create better workplaces that are healthier, safer and more productive, KCP in partnership with Samhita, designed two projects-
Provide improved sanitation infrastructure in rural schools in Maharashtra and nudge children to adopt better sanitation habits
Provide increased access to better sanitation facilities for women working in informal markets
How did we impact 2000+ women and children’s lives
Project 1- The project aimed at solving two key challenges-
Poor usage of toilets by children in schools, and
Absence of hand washing facilities at critical junctures
We collaborated with the Swachh Maharashtra Grand Challenge, a first-of-its-kind open innovation platform, in partnership with the government, corporate & social sector to address the key challenges in the sanitation ecosystem; by identifying and piloting innovative programme models across sanitation value chain. We identified 4 major components under this setup-
How to address the school sanitation ecosystem
Project 1 – The project aimed at solving two key challenges –
Poor usage of toilets by children in schools, and
Absence of hand washing facilities at critical junctures
We received 50+ innovative solutions from across the country. A thorough review of the applications led us to select the most innovative and sustainable programs that would help build an impactful ecosystem in school sanitation. KCP and Samhita together set the journey from selection to knowledge dissemination for the selected programs:
Providing grants to selected pilot programmes
Coaching & mentoring
Project monitoring & evaluation, and
Knowledge dissemination.
The project impacted 2000+ children of Chandrapur, Maharashtra.
How to help women access sanitation in informal markets
The second project aimed at addressing the need for safe sanitation facilities for women working in informal markets. We shortlisted GARV TOILETS and CORO as implementation partners. The project provides sanitation facilities with following features:
To provide holistic, effective and sustainable sanitation impact, four components were designed:
Localised Behaviour Change Communication
Menstrual Hygiene Management
Operations & Maintenance
Waste Management
To support the end-to-end implementation of the project, Samhita leveraged their in-house expertise through the following stages- providing operational plans, developing standard operating procedures, monitoring and evaluation progress and outcomes and providing capacity building support for the implementation partners.
The project impacted 2000+ women in Kurla, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
What companies need to keep in mind to ensure that their skilling programs are effective and impactful.
According to Labour Bureau of the Government of India, 90% of the 450 million jobs in India require vocational skills. And right now only 10% of the workforce receive any kind of vocational training at all, formal or informal.[1]
Compare India’s present scenario to those living in developed countries, where 75% undergo formal skill training and it’s clear that we need to do a lot of catching up.
The Skill India Mission presents a unique opportunity for companies to leverage their core business competencies and contribute to skilling India. Part I of this series on Livelihoods and Skill Development, discussed why it is critical for companies to align with the Mission and join together in a concerted effort to close the skills gap in the country’s labour force.
In Part II, we look at what companies need to keep in mind when implementing training programs as part of the Skill India Mission.
The Mission is a new opportunity for companies as it is different from past efforts by the government in a number of ways. Most critically it has consolidated the skilling effort in India by replacing the 20-odd ministries that were previously engaged with training programs with one focused and central Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). The MSDE has its own budget and is mandated to drive skill development efforts in the country, by co-ordinating the programs of State Governments and other Ministries. The MSDE also collaborates with companies in the private sector, developing frameworks for vocational and technical training and planning for skills that may be required in the future.
The Skill India Mission prioritizes aspects of skilling that were previously ignored, like the recognition of prior experience and entrepreneurship skills. Rajesh Kaimal, Business Head of Manipal City and Guilds, an education service provider that trains and certifies people across the country, points out that under the new initiative, “there is a special focus on RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning), which is a drive to recognise people who are already well-versed in a trade but don’t have any formal certification.” Under the PMKVY, a scheme under the MSDE, there is an equal emphasis on RPL skill training programs. Out of the 24 lakh (2.4 million) people that the scheme aims to train each year, 12 lakh (1.2 million) has been earmarked for training and assessment and 12 lakh for the recognition of prior learning.
Praveen Aggarwal, the Chief Operating Officer of Swades – a foundation that focuses on creating livelihood opportunities for rural populations – commended the creation of a separate policy to encourage entrepreneurship.
Under the mandate, the MSDE is directed to make entrepreneurship aspirational and encourage it as a viable career option through advocacy, create support networks for potential entrepreneurs and promote entrepreneurship amongst women. Mr. Aggarwal believed that an equal focus on entrepreneurship skills is especially critical for rural areas and saw this as a good move by the Indian Government.
Getting it right
With the government making a strategic effort to create a skilled workforce and prioritizing skill development initiatives, it is critical that companies also get on board and invest in effective programs. Conducting one-off trainings or failing to link them to jobs may not significantly improve the prospects of those seeking work. From our conversations with a number of companies and implementation agencies in India, we have developed some guidelines that companies may find helpful when developing and executing their skilling programs.
Adopt a lifecycle approach
Like any other intervention in the social sector, in order to achieve long-term impact, companies need to adopt a lifecycle approach to skill development. This means designing programs that look at every aspect of skilling communities and includes mapping the skills and aspirations of a community before training, conducting training that is based on the findings of the skill mapping, connecting trainees to employment opportunities after the training and following up with them after employment. One of the programs that Swades conducts adopts this approach. Apart from the activities listed here, Swades conducts an intensive follow up with their trainees. Once placed in employment Swades tracked the progress of their trainees for 2 years. In the first year tracking occurred on a monthly basis in order to provide ‘hand-holding’ and get them accustomed to an office environment. In the second year, follow-ups were reduced to quarterly intervals. Praveen Aggarwal says that the reason Swades does this is, “to see how they are progressing in their careers and if they leave their jobs, why are they doing this etc.”
Following up with newly employed trainees is especially critical as it can result in significantly reducing the number of people leaving their jobs because of being unable to cope with new work environments.
Match skills to aspirations
Training programs need to keep in mind the marketability of skills received at the end of the course and match them to individual aspirations and desires in order for them to be impactful. Training that is not linked to careers that people want, is a waste of resources on both sides of the equation. A good way to ensure the relevance of training is by mapping skills according to both market needs and local capabilities.
This approach ensures the expectations and requirements of a particular community are met and provides guidelines on what kind of training is needed. Swades ensures that their training is consistently effective by, “giving (people) a bouquet of choices, empowering them with a sense of decision making – of what they can do with their lives, (and) creating aspirations.” Mr. Aggarwal went on to say that attempting to meet the needs of communities and advising them against potentially less-viable career paths, is a fine balancing act.
Transferrable skills: Providing communities with transferrable skills is also useful as it builds competence in areas required for most jobs. Transferrable skills include communication and analytical skills, decision-making abilities, team work, writing and reporting skills and other similar skills. For semi-urban and rural populations, such skills are especially useful as most have never been in an office environment. In their training on transferable skills, Swades includes aspects like how to dress appropriately for different types of employment, basic computer literacy, personal hygiene, interview skills, tackling work under pressure, dealing with superiors, reporting procedures and other useful information.
Connecting skills to the market
Providing market-relevant skills to communities should be a key focus area for companies. Without a link to market demands, skill training become redundant. Kalyan Chakravathy from PanIIT Alumni Reach for India (PARFI), a social enterprise that conducts skill training across India, spoke about how they link training to market needs by engaging with CSR, “(While) we work on an institutionalized, long-term, investment-heavy model, it does not mean that we are not consistent with the market. We are very demand-focused (and) update that demand through investment. That’s where CSR comes into the picture. Many of our schools are funded by companies.” PARFI’s skilling model is a loan-based training model which engages companies to provide employment opportunities and gives 100% placement to trainees after their courses. Mr. Chakravarthy said that placements were assured, “because we first sign up the employer and then set up the training.” With companies providing an input on what skills are needed, PARFI is able to conduct training that is relevant and can enhance the career prospects of trainees after the course.
The Value of Skills
If the courses or training that people receive are not recognised as valuable to their personal economic growth, for example by enabling individuals to achieve a higher salary or a better job, then there is very little incentive for them to take part in the program. If a watchman who has been trained under the skilling program subsequently receives the same salary as someone who is not trained, then what value has it added to his personal situation? Linking skill training to market needs is critical but companies must also ensure that this training will add value to the overall career prospects of beneficiaries.
Currently, training institutes across India are seen negatively as purely manpower sourcing agencies and this needs to change.
The Swades Foundation tackles this issue by working with select partners and social enterprises who they identify as having an understanding of a specific market. They connect their training to those who have demand for particular skills. PARFI works on a sustainable vocational training model that is loan-driven. The system, although charging trainees a fee, works well as it encourages only those genuinely interested to take part. The fee also ensures a high standard of quality and active participation from trainees, contributing to the overall sustainability of the program – and giving an impetus to social entrepreneurship as a whole.
Many government-sponsored skilling programs see high turnouts but do not necessarily have an impact on workforce skilling levels because they are free and are available to anyone, whether interested in a particular course or not. In general trainees tend not to attach much value to training that is paid for by the government. In the education field in India, people willingly pay more to be taught privately despite the considerable financial constraints this may place on them and their families. But they are prepared to do this because more often than not, the qualification they receive from a private institution will lead to more opportunities and a better standard of living.
The skilling centres of the future should be structured in such a way that the quality of their training is perceived as highly desirable and consequently valued by both potential trainees and future employers.
Focus on Entrepreneurship
Another way to look at the economic development of communities, especially those in rural areas, is through increased entrepreneurship. In 2013-14, agriculture employed 54% of the workforce in India but only contributed to 17% of the GDP[2]. In such a context, where the supply of labour outweighs demand by a large margin, finding new means of employment can be critical.
Providing rural communities with entrepreneurship skills and helping them start cottage industries or small businesses could work to supplement existing income and create local employment for many who would otherwise be forced to migrate to cities. Swades looks at building the entrepreneurship ecosystem by enabling entrepreneurs to create their own value chains. For companies, entrepreneurship programs are trickier as they need to establish connections to the market in order to provide entrepreneurs with a space to sell their products. Before implementing such programs it is important that companies ensure that implementation partners have a connection to the market and a clear exit strategy that enables the local community to continue work once the program has ended. Swades’ Praveen Aggarwal continued, “We are trying to create an entrepreneurship ecosystem. We manage the entire process…including providing entrepreneurship skills, how to understand your market, profit and loss, how to keep your account books…”
The added focus on entrepreneurship by the MSDE also presents a way for companies to leverage the entrepreneurship policy (see above) and engage with such programs.
Systemic Problems
One of the challenges of the current vocational training system is the lack of proper exit mechanisms for students of such programs. Rajesh Kaimal, Manipal City & Guilds (MCG), talks about the challenges of this situation, “a student who is on an engineering or an ITI course, should be able to exit after 1 or 2 semesters. [They should be able to] get a vocational education, get a certificate and then at some point take those credits and return to the formal education system and vice-versa. Most students drop out in-between, because courses last 3-4 years and they are unable to complete them because of family pressures or financial difficulties. If a student has done 2 years of a 3 year course and he leaves, he has nothing to show in terms of a qualification. For example – he might do the first year of a masonry course and if he leaves, he has nothing to show in the job market. There needs to be a an officially recognised certificate saying that he is qualified to do something at each step – since there are certain levels to all skills. Today there is no such mechanism and most ITI’s fail today because their students don’t continue.”
Education vs. Experience
When hiring, companies need to look at the value of vocational programs and the experience of applicants rather than exclusively match jobs to the highest level of education they have received (See above). MCG’s Rajesh Kaimal continues, “corporates should recognise that they need skilled people and not (just) educated people and should understand what they want. Is it skills and experience that you require or is it education and a paper degree that you are looking at?” This is a choice that needs to be made wisely by companies. To further illustrate the point, he talked about the fact that former specialized soldiers from the army have been employed as sweepers on the railways, despite having 15 years of experience, and considerable mechanical skills developed by fixing battle tanks. This happens quite often because many join the army straight out of school and consequently do not possess more than a 10th or 12th standard pass certificate. Historically all appointments on the railways have been dictated by an individual’s level of education.
Moving forward: A Vision for Skill Development
The announcement of the new plan for training and skill development is an opportunity that should encourage companies, investors, implementation agencies and potential beneficiaries to rethink traditional approaches to skilling. Even if the aggressive targets for skilling aren’t met, it will be important to ensure that those who pass through programs are trained well and given valuable skills that they can use in the market. It would be a flawed methodology to define the success of future training courses by the number of people being skilled, rather than potential employment outcome. Training people will have little value if they are not ultimately able to find better jobs, earn decent salaries or work in the sector and profile they were trained for – none of which can be achieved without the active involvement of players that dictate demand for skilled labour – namely companies. Why? It is companies that set trends, create demand for specific skills and subsequently understand what is needed for the future as they shape market demand. We need to invest in delivering market-driven skills to the public which will ultimately contribute to the long-term growth and development of the country.
About the contributors:
Praveen Aggarwal, Chief Operating Officer, Swades, a foundation that focuses on creating livelihood opportunities for rural populations across India.
Kalyan Chakravarthy, Executive Director at the PanIIT Alumni Reach for India Foundation (PARFI), a not-for-profit registered society of IIT alumni committed to execute and scale self-sustainable business models that enhance incomes of the underprivileged sections leveraging PanIIT and other like minded networks.
Rajesh Kaimal, Business Head, Manipal City and Guilds, a joint venture between Manipal Education and City & Guilds, UK that trains and certifies people across the country.
Luis Miranda, Director at Samhita Social Ventures and Founder & ex-President, IDFC Private Equity
A look at how companies can align their CSR strategies to the Government’s Skill India Mission, increase programmatic impact and invigorate the economic well-being of India’s unskilled and unemployed workforce.
The announcement of the Skill India Mission on the 15th of July 2015, a Government initiative that aims to train 500 million people by 2022 in different skills, created a high level of expectation from corporate India, implementation agencies and the individuals who badly need those skills. For many, the Government’s drive to skill India couldn’t have come at a better time.
In 2020, India is set to experience a ‘demographic dividend’ where 65% of the population will be under the age of 35[1], which will give the country the unique advantage of having one of the world’s youngest populations.
However, this is only an advantage if new entrants to the workforce are properly trained and given access to skilled employment opportunities. The National Sample Survey currently estimates that of the 470 million people of working age in India, only 10% receive any kind of training at all[2].
While many believe that the Mission could potentially close this gap and help meet the Indian Government’s ambitious target of skilling 550 million people by 2022[3]; translating these expectations into action is a significant challenge that can’t be overestimated.
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has identified over 24 high-growth sectors for which people need to be skilled. Of these manufacturing, textile, construction, automotive, retail, healthcare and transportation are expected to witness the highest growth. Companies operating within these sectors stand to gain from investing in skill development as they can strategically align with the Mission to train workers with skills that are needed in their respective sectors.
To harness the country’s 2020 demographic dividend and move a step closer to making India ‘the human resource capital of the world[4],’ there will need to be a concerted effort from multiple stakeholders across the livelihood ecosystem – within which companies will need to play an integral part.
Setting standardized benchmarks for skilling
While the Indian Government has instituted a number of constructive policy measures under the Skill India mission and allocated Rs. 5,040 crore (770 million USD) to skilling programs[5], it has failed to do something fundamental – and that is to define what a ‘skill’ in this context is.
This is problematic for a number of reasons. People are considered to be ‘skilled’ whether they have taken part in training that involves short 2 day workshops, or extensive 3 year courses. Without setting standard benchmarks for different skills taught, which include the nature of the training, the duration and depth of courses and a mechanism to measure the program’s success – any future statistics on the number of skilled workers created as a result of this initiative will have significantly reduced value.
Furthermore it is important to have appropriate levels of training for appropriate skills which will be critical for the effective implementation of programs.
Skill development ≠ livelihoods
The widely accepted definition of livelihoods, developed by Chambers and Conway, reads as follows, “a livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living.” Livelihood interventions therefore aim to build the social, physical and financial capital and capacity of people with the aim of bettering their employability or income generation prospects.
Skilling programs, on the other hand, are concentrated on building the capacity of individuals and communities and do not necessarily tackle other aspects like creating assets or resources for communities and providing access to employment opportunities.
It is therefore crucial to place skill development within the larger context of livelihoods and encourage companies, NGOs and social enterprises to think about skilling as a means for people to access livelihoods and not as an end in itself.
In order to design and implement impactful programs it is important to realize that training forms just one aspect of creating livelihoods and does not automatically translate into a means of livelihood. While training people in new skills is critical, companies need to look at skilling through the lens of creating livelihoods and ensure that there are support mechanisms in place after training.
A holistic approach to skill development
To do this, what really needs to change is the way in which skilling programs are currently implemented. Conducting isolated training with no follow-up and no connection to market demands will reduce their effectiveness. Adopting a lifecycle approach to skilling is the only way to ensure meaningful, long-term impact. A lifecycle approach looks at all aspects of skilling, from the aspirations of people before training, to counselling and following up with beneficiaries during their employment. Skill development programs conducted in this manner will ensure that the training received has an impact on livelihoods and contributes to the economic well-being of communities.
The role of companies
The Skill India Mission aims to actively involve companies in skilling the country. In July, at a conference in New Delhi about engaging the private sector, Pawan Agarwal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India talked about the government’s drive to involve companies and said, “private sector engagement is part of the DNA of the Skills Ministry of India.” By consolidating its efforts under the Ministry of the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and increasing the budget of the National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) managed by the NSDC, the Government is pushing for the active participation of companies[6]. Engaging with the NSDC through public-private partnerships (PPPs), CSR programs and scaling up skilling operations is critical to the success of Skill India.
Why should companies get involved?
Align with government priorities
At this point, publicly funded initiatives are just not enough to create significant impact. Companies shape industry demands, set trends and therefore, have a greater understanding of what is needed in various sectors. Currently the Indian Government is only able to train 3.1 million of the 12.8 million entrants into the workforce each year and it is vital that companies step in to close the gap. Kalyan Chakravarthy, Executive Director at the PanIIT Alumni Reach for India Foundation (PARFI), reiterates the need for companies to get involved, “The government does not have the resources to train 40 crore people (500 million). India cannot afford this kind of budget, not unless it’s on a grant basis. Ultimately, (skilling) has to be market driven.”
As part of CSR
Luis Miranda, a Board Director at Samhita, sees the CSR mandate as a win-win opportunity for companies to invest in skilling without worrying about profitability, “because you are training people for your own business, if you’re doing good that’s great if not, you spend 2% and it goes against your CSR.”
Companies can design training programs that align to their business and use such programs to create a pool of skilled workers that could be potential future employees.
Many companies have expressed reluctance to spend money on training as this involves high costs and trainees often leave for higher salaries after training is complete causing companies to lose out on their investment. By including skilling under the CSR mandate, companies that were previously reluctant may be encouraged to contribute to the cause.
Increasing employability
Skill training programs also need to be linked to market demands so that trained individuals are seen as valuable assets and are employable. Establishing links with the private sector is a good way to do this. An evaluation of one of the programs run by Gram Tarang Employability Services, a social enterprise that trains people in underdeveloped regions of the country, showed that due to the extent of private sector links built into the initiative, 100% of the beneficiaries were placed at the end of the program. (The study was published by GSE research and Practical Action Publishing.) Programs that do not have such corporate connections as the Gram Tarang, may not necessarily be as impactful, as people might not see the opportunity for employment afterwards, so it becomes important for companies to step-in and provide those much-needed links.
How can companies engage in skill development?
Through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a not-for-profit company administered jointly by the Indian Government and the private sector. This unique public-private partnership (PPP) initiative aims to narrow the skills gap between demand and supply in India. It acts primarily as a funding organization that catalyses the creation of large, quality, for-profit vocational institutions. The NSDC acts a facilitator by providing capital for start-ups to set up skill development centres and training programs. It has also set up 38 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) that connect the needs of industry with the training that is done on-the-ground and builds capacity in respective sectors.
Companies can work directly with or leverage the NSDC in a number of ways.
Fund the creation of quality vocational training institutes – this can also be done in partnership with social enterprises that have developed high-quality, low-cost business models
Assess the validity of programs run by accredited organizations, contribute to NSDC’s curriculum design and ensure that it is regularly updated
Work with the SSCs to ensure that training meets market needs and is updated accordingly
Work with NGOs or SEs that are affiliated with the NSDC (as part of their CSR)
Train students through apprenticeship programs
Germany’s highly successful “Vocational Education Training (VET)” apprenticeship model is a good example of how companies can train people to build industry capacity. Companies work with vocational centres to train students that enroll in various courses. This system incorporates a ‘dual-training’ approach which allows students to split their time equally between the classroom and workplace. Companies give students a minimum wage and can absorb them into the existing workforce once fully trained. Students benefit from the training and salary and companies eventually get skilled and qualified workers that meet their requirements. While the Government of India has established a bi-lateral working group with the German Government to promote this system and the Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has made provisions for a similar model under the Apprentice Training Scheme (ATS), active participation and interest from companies will be needed to drive these initiatives forward.
Get involved at the policy level
Policy level reforms are also an avenue under which companies can contribute to Skill India. The government needs the presence of corporations on their boards to advise and help shape curriculum so they are aligned to market demands. Rajesh Kaimal, Business Head of Manipal City and Guilds, an education service provider that trains and certifies people across the country, believes that companies need to get involved at the governance level for effective impact. According to him, the formation of the Sector Skills Councils are a good move by the government but needs active participation from companies; “The idea is that the Sector Skills Councils should have a healthy representation from the industry itself – [appointments to the board] should not be political but representative of the industry body and have key players from industry. Otherwise what will happen is the certification will lose its relevance. [For example] If someone who has a certificate from a certain SSC and is hired to operate a crane, but he doesn’t know how to do this – tomorrow nobody will hire from that SSC.” The SSC needs to make an effort to attract industry participants to their governing boards and constantly revise their curriculum in consultation with companies to stay relevant and become a key resource for employers.
What are companies doing?
The Skill India Mission is an opportunity for companies to give some serious thought to how they can play an impactful role in bridging the skills gap in the country. Wide-scale impact cannot occur without the active involvement of the private sector. By leveraging the Skill India Mission and engaging with the government and implementation agencies, companies can work to provide much-needed training programs to the vast number of unskilled people, which will ultimately benefit industry and contribute to the growth and development of the country in the long-term.
About the contributors:
Praveen Aggarwal, Chief Operating Officer, Swades Foundation, a foundation that focuses on creating livelihood opportunities for rural populations across India.
Kalyan Chakravarthy, Executive Director at the PanIIT Alumni Reach for India Foundation (PARFI), a not-for-profit registered society of IIT alumni committed to execute and scale self-sustainable business models that enhance incomes of the underprivileged sections leveraging PanIIT and other like minded networks.
Rajesh Kaimal, Business Head, Manipal City and Guilds, a joint venture between Manipal Education and City & Guilds, UK that trains and certifies people across the country.
Luis Miranda, Director at Samhita Social Ventures and Founder & ex-President, IDFC Private Equity
[1] (Planning Commission, XII Five Year Plan, Employment and Skill Development, pp 140-141)
[2] Ernst & Young, Knowledge paper on skill development in India
[3] (Planning Commission, XII Five Year Plan, Employment and Skill Development, pp 140-141)
1.What CSR programs do you currently focus on in sanitation and the Swachh Bharat mission? How does this align with Reckitt Benckiser’s broader sustainability approach?
We have a broad responsibility towards Banega Swachh India (BSI). [RB’s ambitious program to address the sanitation and hygiene crisis in India] We work under 4 pillars. The first pillar is behaviour change communication, the second is mass reach, the third pillar is product access and fourth is infrastructure creation and maintenance. We give maximum weight to work around behaviour change communication because we find without BCC infrastructure created will remain only structures that will never be used. So our work is focused around the determinants of behaviour change. We are trying to understand through our work and processes why behaviours are such and what triggers non-behaviours into behaviours.“We give maximum weight to work around behaviour change communication because we find that without BCC infrastructure created…will never be used”
2.Can you tell us about some activities that you have conducted in the area of behaviour change communication?
Under Banega Swachh India (BSI) we are developing school modules for very young children at the foundation stage which include early-learning goals like personal social and emotional development, knowledge and understanding, physical development. Typically what happens is that some hand washing programs are conducted for a session or two. They aren’t regular sessions, just awareness programs. We are trying introduce a program where there will be modules in place for school children, student work books, activity based learning kits and a school curriculum for the teachers amongst other things, so that there is a regularity in the messages that are disseminated. We don’t only work on one aspect which is only hygiene or hand washing. We have elaborate modules that range from personal hygiene to hygiene at home, hygiene at school, hygiene during illness, hygiene in neighbourhoods etc. We are making strides at various levels and building a curriculum to implement good hygiene. In the coming months we will roll out a program with some very worthy partners that have been working with us since the launch of our BSI campaign, which is the Banega Swachh India campaign.
Do you work with other communities as well?
We are starting with schools, but yes we do intend to work with natural leaders and community based leaders. We are also thinking about using a platform to create an enabling environment for the Banega Swachh India campaign to leads us towards the goal of the Swachh Bharat mission. We are currently in dialogue with certain organizations about this.
3.Do you think that organizations are interpreting the Swachh Bharat campaign to mean “build toilets?” There are other aspects of WASH that are not receiving as much attention, why do you think this is so?
I feel that there are various partners so if someone is constructing toilets, it’s a very big part of the mission. To invest in creation of the infrastructure, a lot of capital is involved. But yes, we should leverage resources that everyone has – corporates, private foundations, international organisations, all have resources and it’s important to leverage these to shape the market. One part is construction of toilets which is very important, but along with that, companies can come up with various things. Companies have brands and conduct campaigns and so we have experience in this area. We can do something to motivate people like bringing like-minded people together so that everyone contributes. It should not be a standalone thing – there needs to be a spirit of partnership on mutually agreed principles so that people work together and achieve the goal of making India open-defecation free.
4.What are the main issues that you think need intervention in sanitation and how does RB approach these issues?
What’s important here is to work as a consortium rather than alone, because organizations have different skill sets and different strengths, so if everyone comes together there’s a good chance things will happen. To take the example of Samhita and how you bring in multiple stakeholders for an issue – if we do that then we will know what TCS is doing, how someone else is contributing etc. No organization or company can do this alone, we need to fit in with the overall vision of Swachh Bharat. We are currently exploring the best ways to do this.
5. At the Chicago Booth event, you mentioned an innovative approach that RB is implementing, can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Our work is of 2 kinds. One is hardcore execution on the field through intervention partners. We work on bringing partners together and we also bring some global people together so that the best can be achieved. Our second approach is working on something which is more on the policy level. Here we’re looking at how all this work can be integrated into the larger framework of sanitation.
6.What do see as the major obstacles or challenges to having a Swachh Bharat? What challenges has RB faced?
Let’s call it learnings, not challenges. We see opportunities for where we can do better, not just the challenges. I think we need to have more partnerships and more aligned thinking. It’s very important to have design thinking. We are continuously working on that – improving our design thinking.
7.What do you see as the key development issues in India? What is the role that companies can play?
You see, health, hygiene, sanitation they all go hand in hand. There are various things that need our urgent attention. You must know that India has committed to the MDGs. The MDGs talk about the latest figures for under 5 mortality and morbidity arising out of diarrhoea. That’s one of the things which is very important. A lot of theories state that this is an unexplored space where companies can come forward to contribute. There are only a few foundations working in this area.
I also see that very simple things like hand-washing can reduce diarrhoea and pneumonia mortality and morbidity rates using very simple tools.
There are 3 aspects on which define your CSR strategy – one is the company’s mission the other is sustainability goal of the company and the third is seeing if there is a match between the two. I would also like to say that without partnerships no one can achieve anything. This is the time to work together to achieve Swatch Bharat Mission and make India Open Defecation Free.
The Prime Minister’s call for a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014 has reactivated the demand to provide better health and hygiene to communities. The mission became one of the first big priorities of CSR, after the law came into force, with several companies, foundations and individuals pledging their support to the cause of sanitation. While providing infrastructure and other resources is critical, it is also equally important to practice a holistic approach to implementing such programs.
Sanitation, or WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) issues are divided into two broad categories of supply and demand. Supply side issues include building toilets, drainage systems and the availability of water and electricity. Issues that affect demand are to do with caste, location, environment, security, social prejudices, religious beliefs etc.
The government continues to restrict support to supply issues without adequately addressing demand barriers. It has capped the spending on Information, Education and Communication (IEC), to 15% of the budget signalling that it is secondary to creating infrastructure.
India is suffering from a serious sanitation crisis: we have the largest number of people practising open-defecation in the world. The situation is so bad that open defecation is more common in India than in poorer countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kenya and Rwanda. To achieve the primary objective of Swachh Bharat and end open-defecation in India, it is critical that both aspects of WASH are addressed. In this context, it would be helpful to understand some of the ground level challenges, gaps and the scope for companies to provide sustainable and scalable support to the sanitation ecosystem.
Construction: The need for well-built toilets
Most companies have pledged to build toilets, which is desperately needed to combat the practice of open-defecation. India needs sanitation infrastructure for the more than 600 million people who do not have access to a toilet.
Construction is a cost-intensive activity and yet could be a half-baked solution if issues related to availability of water, electricity, land, manpower and appropriate toilet designs are not addressed upfront.
Companies need to rise to this challenge and focus on building good quality toilets. The one-size-fits-all approach cannot work because of vast differences between urban and rural spaces and variances in community practices and beliefs across geographies. Badly constructed toilets will also further discourage use.
What is needed is a concerted effort to build toilets that people will be encouraged to use, that keep in mind specific community needs, and also ear-mark resources for maintenance. There is also scope for funders to look at the renovation of existing toilets that have fallen into disrepair, reducing the need for cost-intensive construction projects.
To successfully tackle the problem of open-defecation we need to approach the issue holistically and encourage behaviour change rather than measuring our success by the number of toilets being built.
Critical WASH components that need support: maintenance, waste management and capacity building
A critical factor that is failing to receive adequate operational support is the maintenance of toilets. Hundreds of toilets lie unused due to the lack of proper maintenance systems – the total maintenance allocation for schools under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), including cleanliness, consumables, and small repairs is a paltry Rs. 5000 a year. Providing a reasonable percentage of the budget to ensure proper maintenance – at least for some period of time after installation – can be a critical input for WASH programs.
Attention also needs to be paid to supplementary components like waste management, drainage systems, waste-water treatment, fecal sludge management and capacity building.
Companies also fail to strategize their exit from communities. Very few CSR efforts have exit plans that build in takeover by the community, which is essential to ensure longer-term sustainability of the initiative and durability of the intended outcomes. Another way of ensuring the sustainability of programs is through collaborative interventions, which provide a wider donor base for communities to draw upon. It is necessary for companies to support the sanitation ecosystem in a way that programs can be sustained after their exit.
Changing behaviour
Behaviour change communication is critical to ensure the usage of toilets. Messages need to be professionally developed and context-specific to account for the widely different reasons for open-defecation in urban and rural spaces. For example, rural areas are governed by socio-cultural practices, whereas the issue in urban areas is related to space, time and maintenance.
For FMCG companies, behaviour change campaigns also present an opportunity to strategically address the imperatives around WASH through cause-marketing campaigns, rather than be seen as pure CSR initiatives.
The need for sustainable solutions
The CSR mandate has motivated companies to participate in the Swachh Bharat campaign but in order to meet the goals of the campaign, CSR efforts need to be channelled towards interventions that are sustainable in the long-term.
Samhita strongly believes that in order to effectively address the problem of open-defecation companies need to fund end-to-end solutions that support the sanitation ecosystem. Programs should include the construction and maintenance of toilets, behavioral change communication, monitoring impact and sustainability. The program life-cycle should be designed such that all aspects of WASH are adequately covered.
We are not, however, suggesting that companies take on the entire responsibility at an individual level; companies could pool funds or create/join coalitions with other key stakeholders like Foundations, research bodies, social organizations to support specific interventions and drive collective impact.
2019 may be the year when India has a 100 million more toilets but unless the government, companies and other key stakeholders adopt a more holistic approach to sanitation, those toilets will lie abandoned and unused while people use the fields they find so pleasureable and convenient.
As part of its CSR services, Samhita Social Ventures undertakes community needs assessment for companies to align the expectations and intentions of the company with priorities identified by the community that it seeks to benefit as a key stakeholder. This is accomplished by conducting door-to-door surveys, interviews with key informants in the village (such as sarpanch, asha worker, aanganwadi workers) and focused group discussions with the residents.
Through our intense and in-depth interaction with communities across the country, we have realized that community participation and acceptance are critical in ensuring the success of CSR programs. While the theoretical discourse on development has always acknowledged the importance of participatory approach (you may have heard of Robert Chambers and Paulo Freier), this takes on a pragmatic connotation for companies beginning to think about CSR in India.
Our work has shown that the aim should be to address social implications of corporate activities by securing community participation in decision-making and consideration of local knowledge and the environment. The community should drive and own these initiatives. Any tendency to superimpose or force CSR or other development initiatives top-down on communities could be disastrous.
So for example, during one such assessment in two clusters of Vadodara District, Gujarat it was observed that 87% people defecate openly every day. While reducing open defecation is a national and international priority, it was most interesting to note that communities in one cluster did not perceive it to be an issue. The assessment found that these communities defecated in the open not only because of the unavailability of toilets but due to low awareness of the potential health hazards, internalized behavior, accustomed practice, perception of high costs of maintaining and constructing toilets, caste based differences in terms of maintenance and cleaning, etc. It was seen that these communities appeared resistant to using toilets because of all these reasons. In this context, CSR initiatives of companies to set-up toilets for such communities to eliminate open defecation, disregarding the voices of the community, would be futile and bound to fail. The company would have, in effect, spent its funds putting up concrete structures with its branding – not used by anyone and soon falling into a state of disrepair and neglect. In fact, this is a very common sight in many villages dotted across India. One of the ways to then incorporate the community’s views and mitigate the risk of failure would be to start a behavior change communication or campaign on a long term and sustained basis. Another example flows from the needs assessment conducted in northern India. The study revealed rampant usage of traditional fuel for cooking. About 83% of people relied on cow-dung and wood as the means of cooking. It was obvious to our eyes that this was leading to many respiratory problems among women and also causing indoor pollution. Surprisingly, the women did not seem to be too bothered. When we suggested using smokeless chullahs or stoves, most of them thought it to be flippant. Conversations with these women revealed that they preferred these smoke generating stoves because they believed that it kept the house warm, drove away insects etc. They said that they were accustomed to cooking in this way. It is anyone’s guess as to what the results of a CSR initiative distributing free smokeless stoves to a community like this would be. Promoting smokeless chulhas in such households becomes challenging unless their beliefs are changed.
A similar reaction was observed in another needs assessment study when a group of women said they did not want personal taps and that they preferred community pumps as it was the only activity that gave them a chance to come out of their houses and socialize with other women.
In conclusion, we opine that CSR initiatives by companies or social developmental activities by NGOs should be planned in a participatory manner, in consultation with the community, literally sitting with them, and gauging their basic needs. We must take recourse to “participatory rural appraisal” and other mapping tools to identify the community needs. This, in turn, results in greater outreach and smoother implementation. And thus, a project is born.
Urbanisation and climate change have led to an increase in the need for improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). While companies across India try to address the critical gaps in WASH through their CSR, RB decided to take a shared value approach and unlock advantages for both business and society.
The Reckitt Benckiser Story
Children spend a significant portion of their day at school where WASH services (including access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene) can impact student learning, health and dignity particularly for girls. Most water and sanitation related diseases can only be prevented by improving a number of hygiene infrastructure and behaviours.
With a view to harness the potential of India’s next generation to become sanitation change leaders, RB and Samhita designed an intervention which recognizes the role of children as key drivers of change and arms them with the right tools to drive change as well as collaborated with the government to scale the impact.
How did we impact 1 lakh students
Samhita designed a program with a focus on driving behavior change through community ownership and advocacy at the level of government and the school administration, in addition to imparting education on hygiene practices among children. Our approach to multiply the impact was two fold:
This project has adopted the proven route of community engagement to reach thousands of lives. The Behavioural Change Communication (BCC) plan covers not only hand washing but also the importance of personal and environmental hygiene practices. Wall paintings, celebration of important international and national events related to WASH were observed in large scale in the states. In addition, students and teachers engaged several community leaders and school management committees in their locations to spread awareness on best practices in the communities.
At a time when the entire country is raging over the oh-so-popular debate of toilets over temples, Outlook India (an English weekly news magazine), declared sanitation as India’s No. 2 problem (in more ways than one) (You can refer to the article here). 64% of Indians still do it in the open which is a global record in itself. In the background of such a situation, the CSR initiative of a major Indian logistics company in partnership with Samhita is one step towards solving one of the oldest and large-scale problems of India.
To address this problem in a sustained manner, the company adopted sanitation as one of the top causes as part of its CSR policy. In pursuance of its CSR policy, it gave a go ahead to set-up environment friendly bio-toilets in and around its areas of operations to eliminate open defecation practice. These bio-toilets differ from the conventional toilets as all of the human waste is processed and converted into harmless water thus promoting environmental sustainability.
Just as it was approving the budget to go ahead with the installation of bio toilets at their Mumbai Port facilities, unfortunately, in Uttarakhand, thousands of people were killed/displaced due to devastating floods and landslides in the region. Being a socially responsible business that it is, the company decided to prioritize helping flood victims and encouraged employees to come forward and commit one day’s salary, which the company will match.
The company decided to undertake a more structured and holistic approach in order to ensure that the collected money is brought to an effective use and delivers the much-needed impact in the affected communities. So, in partnership with Samhita, a needs assessment was conducted in the flood affected villages to identify the imminent problems. It was identified that the villagers in the flood affected regions were left with very little sanitation facility due to floods; most of them going out in open spaces to defecate. Thus, there loomed a big danger of an epidemic breakout in the region. Community being an integral part of their operations, the company wanted to go beyond donations and overtake the execution of the relief project till the final stage until the affected people are not forced anymore to indulge in open defecation practice.
A local NGO Yusuf Meherally Centre (YMC) was identified for looking after the installation and maintenance of these toilets in the long run. The work began with Samhita and YMC teams getting together and conducting days of groundwork which included surveys and some social engineering to ensure only the needy and those who are severely affected by the disaster are selected as beneficiaries for toilets. Moreover, to make best use of capacity of bio-toilets, the beneficiaries were grouped together to use common toilets. This also ensured a sense of responsibility amongst the people to first build the toilets, and then use and maintain them collectively.
Impact
– An amount equal to Rs. 7,22,760 was raised through the matching scheme with the employees
– 18 toilets would be built, spread out over six flood affected villages namely Dugadda, Shirwa, Durgapul, Bhumia ki Chaloti, Thatyur and Thapla. 15 were built for households and 3 were built for schools
– More than 200 villagers and 325 children have been benefitted by getting access to toilets
– Construction of toilets have provided a livelihood opportunity to around 45 villagers who worked as daily labourers
Role of Samhita
– Identified sanitation as the major problem in alignment with the mandate of the corporate from a ground-level needs assessment in the villages of Uttarakhand
– Recognized the right kind of social enterprise with its area of operation in and around Uttarakhand and as sanitation as the focus area. After a series of personal calls, market research and due diligence process, StoneIndia was identified as the partner social enterprise.
– Carried out a door-to-door research and identified potential locations for setting up of bio-toilets where sanitation facilities were largely deficient. Feasibility studies and access issues were also carried out at this stage.
– Helped in the setting up of bio toilets and supervised the working and functioning of bio-toilets. The NGO Yusuf Meherally Centre was identified and handed over the responsibility of installation and maintenance of these toilets in the long-run
– Provided villages with a reporting and impact assessment framework to record the progress and sustainability of the project.
The leading logistics company has assured their commitment towards community development work in the long run and promised to stay closely associated with the local people to ensure sustainability of these efforts. The seriousness and commitment shown by the higher management ensured the project execution in a very small duration and brought a huge difference to the life of flood affected communities.
Priya NaikCEO & Founder
Professional Experience: She has worked with the International Finance Corporation, the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at Arthur Andersen.
Educational Background: Priya has a Master’s degree in economics from Yale University, a Master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a Master’s degree (and a Gold Medal) in Commerce from Mumbai University. She also holds an Executive Education degree from Harvard Business School.
Monica Gandhi CFO
Professional Experience: She brings over 30 years of experience in financial leadership and strategic planning having previously held positions as CFO in Magic Bus India Foundation, Allianz Technology and has led finance and accounts teams in various industries such as Export Manufacturing company, aviation, shipping, retail, BIG 4 and engineering.
Educational Background: Monica is a Chartered Accountant.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – cooking, reading, listening to music and different types of needlework/fabric art
Abhishek Gupta Associate Director
Professional Experience: He is a financial inclusion consultant. He has worked on projects related to digital payments, MSME finance, microfinance, business correspondents, creative industries, financial literacy, digital upskilling, and gender equity in financial services. His clients included the World Bank & IFC, USAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA), DAI, Accion and Villgro. His focus is on using mixed-method research and design thinking to ensure customer centricity in financial services for low-income households. He has previously worked with LEAD at Krea University (IFMR), Intellecap and MicroSave Consulting (MSC). He has authored multiple publications, including bylines in Mint, Business Line, Inc42, CNBC TV18 and NextBillion.
Educational Background: Abhishek holds a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (DCE), Delhi University and an MBA from Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA).
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include high-altitude trekking, playing chess and reading the history of economic thought.
Laxmi Grover Assistant Manager
Professional Experience: She comes with a blend of foundation in software engineering and a grasp of social impact, as she has transitioned from a technical background to a development-focused career. She has worked with Mitrata Inclusive Financial Services, Gov of Odisha (ORMAS), Greenpeace, TCS, and L&T Infotech in the past across domains like financial inclusion, sustainable livelihoods, M&E, and end-to-end project management.
Educational Background: Laxmi is a B Tech graduate in Computer Science & Engineering from NIT Jalandhar and holds Masters in Social Sciences from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – reading, swimming, playing chess and trekking.
Swagata Gan Manager
Professional Experience: She has worked in organisations like CINI (Child in Need Institute), IHAT (Indian Health Action Trust), PATH and ARMMAN and has been involved with Public Health (MNCH) at the grassroot level in Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Swagata hold expertise in preparing the M&E framework, research, evaluation of output and capacity building, advocacy with Government stakeholders.
Educational Background: Swagata holds a M.Sc degree in Economics from University of Calcutta.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – Photography, hiking and watching thrillers.
Kaustubh Mishra Associate
Professional Experience: He has done internships with Education Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Breakthrough Trust, Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability, and Niti Tantra. He brings strong skills in data analysis and proficiency in statistical tools including Excel, R, and Stata.
Educational Background: Kaustubh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Lucknow and a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include playing cricket, gardening, and reading books.
Vaibhavi Iyer Senior Manager – Marcom
Professional Experience: Vaibhavi has spent most of her career working with D2C businesses and brands. She started off her career as the first product manager at CRED, followed by building an ed-tech business at the peak of the pandemic at Openhouse and eventually transitioning to a skin-in-the-game consulting and venture-capital firm called Spring Marketing Capital. Over the course of her career, her main focus has been Strategy (with a focus on consumer insights) and Brand Building.
Educational Background: Vaibhavi holds a B.A. Economics Honors Degree from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – marathoning, playing violin, exploring new places in town, spinning (spin-instructor).
Shahzad Shaikh System Administrator
Professional Experience: He holds experience in maintaining, upgrading and managing the applications, software, hardware and networks. His last assignment was with Oasis Capital – Manama, Bahrain . Previously he as also worked with organizations like Ramee Group, Wipro InfoTech and Trimax Computer Ltd.
Educational Background: Shahzad holds Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – cricket and snooker.
Rachana AgarwalManager – Flagship
Professional Experience: Rachana is a experienced instructional designer with over 20 years of experience in the industry, analyzing learning needs and developing customized content for extensive mandates for the government, social sector and corporates.
Educational Background: Rachana is a graduate in English Literature from Women’s Christian College, Chennai, post-graduate diploma from NIIT and have done instructional designing from Symbiosis, Pune.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include reading, painting, embroidery, art and crafts and gardening.
Mohit Sharma Manager – ONDC
Professional Experience: He holds experience in Brand Sourcing, Market Research, and successful Merchandising across business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C)models. His last assignment was with Metaverse Blockchain Solutions Pvt Ltd. where he was spearheading the merchandising strategy for the e-commerce & reward platform, optimizing, product assortment and placement to maximize sales and customer engagement, brand on-boarding and brand closures. Previously he has also worked with organizations like Shopclues.com, Killer & Lawman Pg3, Pepperfry , Fashionandyou and Shoplik.com.
Educational Background: Mohit holds a Master degree from IMT Ghaziabad.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – singing.
Kunal Dhooper Associate Director – ONDC
Professional Experience: He holds expertise in visualizing the e-commerce business value chain in Indian and Global context. He has been leading multiple projects and teams to drive online growth, GTM strategy for startups and digital partnerships. In his last assigbment he was the Co-Founder of the URBCLAN(Clothing accessories) brand. Previously he has worked with organisations like Zigly, Gadgets360, NewU (Subsidiary of Dabur India Ltd), Snapdeal and Flipkart.
Educational Background: Kunal Dhooper holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce from University of Delhi Masters Degree in Marketing from IP University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – playing badminton and playing percussion instruments.
Vikas Kantu Director – ONDC
Professional Experience: Johny holds expertise in strategic planning, process design, and implementation, proficient in cross-functional project execution and delivery, with a deep understanding of tech platforms and marketplace systems. He has proficiency in setting up Processes, Transitions, Governance & SLAs, directing business transformation initiatives & establishing processes for delivering high-quality solutions. His last assignment was with Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd. Where he was leading the Central Supply Analytics, Seller Marketing, Monetization charter, and Tier 2 Account management for sellers. Previously he has also worked with organizations like Cure.Fit, Canara Paper Mills and GMJ Paper & Boards.
Educational Background: Johny holds a B.E. Mechatronics Engineering degree from Anna University, Chennai and MBA in Operations Management from SIBM, Bengaluru.
Vikas Kantu Head – Marcomm
Professional Experience: He holds expertise in defining brand vision, guidelines, strategy, positioning and creating impactful Communication & Media strategies. Collaborated with the top agencies, celebrities, script-writers, directors to craft 25+ remarkable ad films. His last assignment was with Spartan Poker as Head – Marketing & Product. Previously he has worked with organizations like TOPPR, Cars24 and 3DPLM.
Educational Background: Vikas holds a B.Tech degree in Information Technology.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include traveling, trading, sports & gaming , yoga & mediation.
Akash RoyTechnology Product Lead
Professional Experience: Akash Roy joins us as a Technology Product Lead. He is based out of Mumbai, and will be working closely with Priya Naik. He has 17 years of total experience, with 8 years in Technical Project Planning.
Educational Background: Akash holds a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Business Administration and is a certified Project Manager and Product Manager.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: He is someone who likes to research on a wide range of topics like, History, Space and Tech as a hobby. He also loves to trek.
Pre-credit Score
We are developing the Pre-Credit Score (PCS) in collaboration with industry professionals, banks, NBFCs, universities, and credit bureaus in India. This score functions as a substitute for a formal credit score, particularly for new-to-credit (NTC) individuals, demonstrating their creditworthiness. We calculate this score by analyzing personal, demographic, regional, and professional data, as well as repayment history from our credit guarantee facility. It takes into account characteristics such as punctuality, savings, and payback practices, allowing members to get formal loans from our partner financial institutions (FI). Our PCS approach, a valuable public resource, is effortlessly incorporated into our technological platform and collaborative efforts with partners.
Evaluation
Our robust data analysis monitoring and evaluation frameworks enable us to understand the efficacy of interventions, and continuously optimize design and delivery to obtain maximum impact while minimizing cost for all network participants. We are also creating public goods, playbooks, and toolkits for various interventions and cohorts to disseminate best practices to support the network and ecosystem as a whole, and facilitate long-term, sustainable impact. We are creating three indices -, an Income Index, a Resilience Index, and a Women’s Economic Empowerment Index – to support the generation of key insights and learnings to continuously improve our programs.
Tech Platform
Creating an integrated technology layer across all stakeholders is essential to the success of this initiative and our interoperable technology layer will facilitate streamlined onboarding, and service offerings across multiple partners.
The network architecture uses a microservices approach such that any new service can be added in a plug-and-play manner. In addition to building our own technology capabilities, we will also integrate with partner platforms wherever possible to further assist the delivery of interventions digitally. The various microservices can be broadly classified into:
Network Management Microservices
Participant Intervention Microservices
Credit Guarantee Facility
Informal microenterprises frequently struggle to obtain loans due to their perceived riskiness. To address this issue, Samhita-CGF is working with organizations such as CGTMSE and USAID to develop new credit guarantee (CG) programs for new-to-credit (NTC) entrepreneurs. These projects seek to harness enormous credit possibilities for informal micro-entrepreneurs, with a special focus on women and farmers. These schemes, in collaboration with UGro Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SEWA Bank, and Dvara Money, offer First Loss Default Guarantees (FLDG) to reduce risk and increase financial inclusion.
Noshir Dadrawala
About Noshir: Mr. Noshir H. Dadrawala is the Chief Executive of the Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy. He has been with the Centre since its inception in 1987. Currently, he serves on international boards as; Member, Asia Pacific Philanthropy Network which is a part of Give2Asia based in San Francisco, member of the Coordinating Committee of Brazil based Worldwide Initiatives & Network of Grant-makers (WINGS), Fellow of the Centre for Study of Philanthropy (New York) which is affiliated to the Graduate School & University Center of the City University of New York, member of the Advisory Council of the U.S. based International Centre for Not-for-profit Law. He is also a trustee of; Resource Alliance (India), India Sponsorship Committee, Make A Wish Foundation – India, V Care Foundation, Chronic Care Foundation, Forbes Foundation, Happy Home and School for the Blind, Junoon Foundation initiated by Sanjana Kapoor and the Jai Ho Trust which he established with the Oscar Winning Director, Danny Boyle. He is a permanent invitee on the Board of the Bombay Community Public Trust that CAP helped to incubate in the year 1990.
Our collaboration with CGTMSE involves significant financial and programmatic support to empower underrepresented segments in India. We’re aligned with government initiatives to drive financial inclusion, with a focus on NTC and NTI segments. Our proposed credit guarantee scheme aims to bridge this gap and empower these underserved entrepreneurs. We’re dedicated to promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and livelihood enhancement, aligning with Schedule VII of corporate social responsibility initiatives. Our project budget is comprehensive, covering various aspects of our mission to drive financial inclusion and economic growth across India.
The need for financial inclusion
Our initiative addresses a critical issue: the lack of access to formal credit for a significant portion of MSMEs, particularly women-owned businesses. While MSMEs contribute substantially to India’s GDP and employment, only around 16% have formal credit access. This gap is even more pronounced among women entrepreneurs.
Our Solution
Our target includes 80,000 participants from diverse industries, including retail, IT, healthcare, and more, spread across Pan-India regions. These individuals, often affiliated with NGOs, government schemes, and private sector networks, are typically micro or nano-entrepreneurs with limited formal credit history. Our support will help them access working capital, expand their businesses, and adopt better practices.
To enable access to loans for New to Credit (NTC) and New to Industry (NTI) borrowers, we’re contributing in first loss default guarantee (FLDG) funding. This forms a vital part of our credit guarantee facility with CGTMSE, aimed at unlocking INR 500 Crores in loans from financial institutions.
The program is also complemented through technical assistance provided to develop a pre-credit score system with SIDBI, banks, NBFCs, and credit rating agencies. This score will serve as a substitute for formal credit ratings, helping assess the creditworthiness of NTC and NTI participants.
Fostering Financial Inclusion: CIIE.CO and 360One Foundation’s Collaborative Impact
CIIE.CO, the Innovation Continuum at IIM Ahmedabad, has partnered with 360 One Foundation to address the critical issue of limited access to quality credit for the Bharat Segment, encompassing Indian households earning less than $10 a day. With 360 One Foundation’s invaluable support, CIIE.CO has empowered three inclusive lending start-ups with catalytic funding, designated as First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG) capital. Additionally, one start-up received funding for validating its business case.
This catalytic funding has been a game-changer, enabling these start-ups to unlock over 10 times the initial capital from formal credit sources. This, in turn, helps them validate their business models, extend financial inclusion, and broaden access to credit for the Bharat Segment.
Throughout the project, CIIE.CO also provided critical technical assistance and ongoing support to these selected start-ups over an 8-month period.
Key Project Components:
Blended Finance Instrument: First Loss Default Guarantee (FLDG)
Project Location: Pan India (Start-ups based at IIM-Ahmedabad)
Total Start-ups Supported: 4
Total Unique Incremental Borrowers from the Bharat Segment Impacted: 5,750+
Additional Funds Unlocked: Approximately INR 14,15,00,000
Support to Start-ups: Diagnostic Panels, Mentoring Clinics, Portfolio Engagement Hours
This partnership drives financial inclusion and empowers the Bharat Segment by fostering innovation and expanding access to credit opportunities.
Empowering Vulnerable Communities: IIT Delhi, SAMRIDH, and 360 One Foundation’s Innovative Financing Solution
IIT Delhi’s SAMRIDH Hosting entity, in collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the 360 One Foundation, has initiated an innovative financing solution to empower vulnerable communities through skill development and job placement. This project aims to generate livelihoods for beneficiaries from underserved backgrounds.
Phase 1 – Training: The project utilizes a grant of INR 1.3 Crores from the 360 One Foundation to leverage an additional working capital loan of INR 4 Crores from NSDC, offering an affordable interest rate of 6% per annum. This financing mechanism includes a 30% partial risk guarantee. With this support, a remarkable 2,420 beneficiaries receive training and job placement opportunities, significantly exceeding the impact of traditional grant-based training programs. The guarantee is renewable for two years, and any unutilized portion can further enable working capital loans, extending support to additional beneficiaries.
Phase 2 – Placement & Retention: Upon successful job retention for three months post-placement, a portion of the 360 One Foundation’s grant (INR 26.7 lakhs) transforms into a Social Success Note, linked to beneficiary placement and retention. This innovative approach reduces borrowing costs for the implementing entity and incentivizes NSDC for improved performance outcomes.
This project aligns with CSR regulations under clause (ix)(b) of Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013. It contributes to public-funded universities like IITs, facilitating research aimed at promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To ensure CSR compliance, IIT Delhi disburses the grant to NSDC, provides evidence of utilization, monitors and reports the training and placement of marginalized beneficiaries, and tracks the grant for two years to provide further support as needed.
This innovative financing solution enables the implementing entity to offer short-term training and placement services to beneficiaries, whether through fee-based or government-sponsored models. Overall, this initiative has the potential to exponentially impact the lives of vulnerable communities by providing them with valuable skills and access to sustainable livelihoods.
This project in collaboration with SEWA aims to offer financial access for business growth and economic stability to 2,500 unbanked women micro-entrepreneurs including vendors, home-based workers, and agriculture. Our pre-credit score system and credit guarantee mechanism will enable them to transition into the formal credit system, making affordable finance accessible.
The Need for Credit Guarantees
These women are considered “New to Credit” due to low or nonexistent CIBIL scores. Many of these women fall into the mid-resilience category, where traditional philanthropic support alone cannot meet their credit needs. Yet, formal financial institutions hesitate to offer them affordable credit. As such, these women entrepreneurs currently rely on informal loans to sustain their businesses, which often charge high-interest rates and function on unfair terms of repayment.
How CGs Address the Problem
Through a pre-credit score system – a unique tool that SEWA/SEWA bank can use to evaluate and provide credit to these women – the credit guarantee program reduces the perceived risk associated with lending to them. Through credit guarantees, these women entrepreneurs will be able to secure formal loans with lower interest rates and favourable repayment terms. This will not only enhance their businesses but also provide them with resilience against economic uncertainties.
Jagdish Acharya
About Jagdish:
Mr.Acharya brings over 44 years of executive leadership experience, and is passionate about driving skill development, quality improvement, and innovation in the paint and coatings sector. As the CEO of PAINTS & COATINGS SKILL COUNCIL, he leads a dynamic team of professionals who work with industry stakeholders, government agencies, and training partners to create and implement competency-based standards, curricula, and assessments for the industry. In his current role, he has successfully launched several strategic initiatives, such as the National Apprenticeship Program, the Recognition of Prior Learning, and the Paints and Coatings Academy for the Paints and Coatings Industry. These initiatives have enabled thousands of workers and students to acquire industry-relevant skills, certifications, and career opportunities. He has also established strong partnerships with leading paint manufacturers, associations, and educational institutions to promote the adoption and recognition of the NCVET standards and programs. Additionally, he has represented the industry at various national and international forums and events, showcasing the best practices and achievements of the Indian paint and coatings industry
Subho Moulik
About Subho: He is a Chartered Accountant and an MBA from London Business School.
He brings over 18 years of experience in technology sales, marketing, product development, innovation and strategy. He was associated with companies like Wayfair, Arthur Andersen, Ernst & Young, the Citi Group, Mckinsey & Company, Whirlpool Corporation, and Adani Group, amongst others.
Subho is a pro-bono advisor for the overall strategy and technology development for Samhita-CGF.
Sudip Basu
About Sudip: Sudip is a Bachelor of Technology graduate from IIT Kharagpur, and holds a post graduate diploma in marketing & finance from IIM, Bangalore.
He brings 3 decades of rich experience in risk management, lending to retail, SMEs, large corporates, cash flow lending, etc. He was the MD, Risk Management, Citi Private Bank, Mumbai and is currently the Group Risk Head at the Hinduja Group.
Ajay Satish SoniFull-stack Developer
Professional Experience: Ajay has 1 year experience in Full-stack development. Completed 15 project and reached up to 1 million leads. Builded e-commerce ,Food Franchise and Traveller Franchise, Waterpark website using technology like React.js,Bootstrap,Sass,Css and Html for Front-end and Django,python,REST Framework for Back-end.
Educational Background: He holds B.E in Electronic and Telecommunication from Mumbai University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – Speed Cubing, Cheese, programming, playing video games and drawing.
Sudhir NaikCFO
Professional Experience: A qualified finance professional (ACA, AICWA, ACS), Sudhir has served articles with A F Ferguson & Co and served MNCs – Shell, Siemens, Ferodo, Colgate Palmolive and Heinz (as CFO and Finance Director) as well as Owner Managed groups – Mittals, Bahwans and Mustafa Sultan as Group CFO. He has worked briefly in Australia, Mexico and for 22 years in the Middle East before joining Samhita.
Diviniti KothariAnalyst-Strategic Partnerships
Professional Experience:
She has gained expertise in research, policy-making, and legislative affairs through her collaboration with various political figures. She has completed her internships with Child Rights & You, at the Office of Reena Gupta (Advisor, Delhi Government) & Dr. Amar Patnaik, Politics for Impact and SRIVIPRA.
Educational Background: Diviniti Kothari holds B.A. (Hons.) degree in Political Science from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – sketching, playing ukulele and badminton
Akriti TiwariAssociate – Marcomm
Professional Experience:
Akriti’s last assignment was with Pokerbaazi as a creative analyst for brand strategizing and social media content. She has curated digital content , translated and edited scripts, ads for major private companies and has hands on experience in organizing several offline and online events for the organization’s social media growth.
Educational Background: Akriti holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature from Lady Shri Ram College for Women. Akriti is a theatre enthusiast.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of Akriti’s hobbies include – reading books, writing poetry and discovering new music
Shreya KuruvillaManager – Implementation
Professional Experience:
She is a Social Impact Professional with over 8 years of experience working in multiple domains. She holds expertise in managing end to end projects implementation across various thematic areas. Her last assignment was with America India Foundation. She has previously also worked with organizations like Capgemini, TechnoServe and HCL Foundation.
Educational Background: She holds a B.A Hons. in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and Masters in Sustainable Development Practices from TERI University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – Poetry and Story Writing, Journaling, Travelling, Spending time with loved ones, Rock Climbing, Long walks, Dancing
Juhi AnandSr. Associate – Implementation
Professional Experience:
Juhi has been working in the development sector and in her past roles she has worked in domains like sustainability, climate change, renewable energy and livelihood and has worked with organizations such as CLEAN and Swaniti Initiative.
Educational Background: Juhi holds B.Com degree from Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi University and has completed Post Graduate Diploma in Forest Management from Indian Institute of Forest Management.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include travelling, music, photography, art & crafts.
Aarchita SharmaAssociate – Revive
Professional Experience:
Aarchita has worked as a Young Professional at the Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (RGAVP), Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Rajasthan. She then joined as an Academic Associate at the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad.
Educational Background: Aarchita holds a BA in Social Sciences from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a MA in Development Studies from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – reading fiction and graphic novels, baking and East Asian media.
Ramakrishna MSr. Associate – Skilling
Professional Experience: Ramakrishna comes with strong business acumen, excellent interpersonal relationship, possessing strong leadership and team building capabilities. He is a dynamic and accomplished professional with extensive experience in Operations, Team Management and in depth knowledge in Channel Management and Customer Operations.
He has 20 plus years of experience in Telecom and banking operations.
Educational Background: He holds B.Com from Osmania University and BMS Degree from Indian School of Business Management & Administration.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include Cooking and Enjoys watching South indian movies.
The need for blended finance in India: Blended finance (BF) is the strategic use of development finance from public and philanthropic sources to mobilise additional capital from the private sector towards greater, sustainable impact. Typically, grant funding is blended with other sources of capital such as debt or equity to maximize funding and social impact capacity.
The Indian BF market stood at USD 1.30 billion in 2022. This represents 14.0% of the global BF market by value and is projected to reach USD 2.64 billion by 2027.
The Indian BF market has grown by 8x from USD 0.1 billion to USD 1.1 billion during the 13-year period from 2010-2022. This indicates a compound annual growth rate of (CAGR) of 18.8%, higher than the growth rate of the global BF market at 11.0%. It represented a cumulative market size of USD 5.6 billion during the 13-year period from 2010-2022, about 3.4% of the cumulative global market.
Blended finance provides opportunities for transformation of the social impact space by working at the intersection of sarkaar, bazaar and samaaj. It uses a network mindset, bringing with it a set of partners, protocols and governance rules, to design interventions and amplify impact at-scale.
Muli DeviMicroentrepreneur, Gokalpuri
Micro-entrepreneurs – Reviving Muli Devi’s Business
Muli Devi lives in Gokalpuri with her children in their own house. She sells sarees and cosmetic items (lipstick, bindi, anklets) from home to home. She sells sarees and cosmetic items such as lipstick, bindi and anklets. In the pre-lockdown era, she was able to earn ₹700 to ₹800 a day and around ₹4000 in a month. Since the onset of the pandemic, she is very often earning only ₹300 to ₹400 per day. She was also unable to consider alternative livelihood due to a lack of necessary skills. While mobile phones have become important to her business as customers prefer it for sales, she was unable to afford one. In August 2021, Muli Devi took a ₹20,000 returnable grant to replenish her inventory. She is now earning around ₹ 6000 monthly and is able to save, pay the ration and water expenses of the house and also repay the interest free loan instalment on a monthly basis. She attributes her revival to REVIVE and the timeliness of it.
VarshaBeautypreneur, Ghaziabad
Beautypreneurs – Varsha went from Helper to Owner
For Varsha, being a beautician was of an interest right from her 12th class. She picked up this skill in Meerut post which she received a formal training with Empower Pragati. A freelancer before (for 2.5 years) who also used to work at an E-aggregator platform for beauty services, Varsha now owns a salon just on the front porch of her house. Varsha has employed one helper at her salon. She received a grant of ₹20,000 and she has been able to purchase a ring light, a curling machine and other makeup products. She currently sees 4 to 5 customers in a day and is earning an income of up to ₹12,000. She created a savings account in the name of her children and now wishes to grow her business and look for a better place to shift her business.
Mansi Suhas Godan was the sole breadwinner for her family of four with an annual income of ₹40,000. She was also a member of the Skill Women Savings Group, which helps women in the artisan community with their financial needs. Through one of the members, Mansi got to know of a Bamboo Handicraft Skill Development Training, conducted in association with the Bamboo Research and Training Centre (BRTC) and Women Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) of Chandrapur, and learned of the increased earning opportunities of being a Bamboo artisan. Today, Mansi is working as a Bamboo artisan and earning ₹150 to ₹200 per day. Through this, she has been able to increase the family’s annual income, and enjoy better self-confidence.
Why Credit Guarantee Matters
In a country as diverse as India, access to credit can be a challenge, particularly for those without established credit histories. CGs play a vital role in enhancing financial inclusion by encouraging lenders to extend credit to a broader range of borrowers, thereby fostering entrepreneurship and economic development.
Credit Guarantees step in to provide that extra layer of assurance, boosting confidence among lenders to extend loans to a wider range of borrowers who otherwise may not be eligible for such support. This not only supports economic growth but also empowers individuals and businesses to seize new opportunities.
CGTMSE (CG loans)
We are creating a INR 500Cr credit guarantee facility with CGTMSE, called “Nirman”, to support lending to New to Credit (NTC) and New to Business (NTB) entrepreneurs. This facility will focus on supporting only those who would otherwise be ineligible for any kind of formal credit support due to lack of valid documentation, no credit history, no collateral, etc.
Entrepreneurs availing of this facility will also receive additional intervention support like financial and digital literacy, skilling, and enterprise development to bolster their capabilities to repay the loans on time and reduce risk for formal financial institutions.
Based on the initial success, we can scale Nirman up to 20x to support additional entrepreneurs across a longer period of time. We will also work closely with NBFCs and banks to help them update their risk mitigation models based on insights generated through this facility. As entrepreneurs successfully repay their loans in a timely manner, they can “graduate” to the formal economy, i.e. they can obtain a credit rating and access formal loans without the need for third-party support.
What is a Credit Guarantee?
Credit Guarantee is a financial mechanism where a third party (often a government agency or a financial institution) promises to repay a loan, or a part of the loan, on behalf of a borrower if the borrower is unable to do so. In other words, it’s like having a “financial safety net” that helps lenders and financial institutions to offer credit to borrowers who don’t have sufficient collateral or strong credit history.
Credit guarantees bridge the gap between borrowers seeking loans and lenders assessing risks. It’s a collaborative effort between borrowers, lenders, and guarantors to provide a safety net that encourages lending and minimizes risk.
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Kotak and USAID are creating a $200M pari-passu credit guarantee facility to support lending to NTC and NTB entrepreneurs, with a focus on women. Through this facility, USAID will provide a pari-passu guarantee to Kotak to support on-lending to NBFCs. Kotak will in-turn provide loans at subsidized rates to NBFCs to facilitate and promote lending to higher-risk segments.
Entrepreneurs availing of this facility will also receive additional intervention support like financial and digital literacy, skilling, and enterprise development to bolster their capabilities to repay the loans on time and reduce risk for NBFCs.
Agriculture
Supporting Marginalized farmers and FPOs through capacity building and access to capital
Reduced cultivation costs, generating resilient and farm-aligned livelihoods and creating digitally & financially literate farmers.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
EMPOWERING WASTE RECYCLER WOMEN
Women waste recyclers reap the benefits of better rates from collected waste.
They eliminate dependencies on other stakeholders by removing middlemen from the value chain and operate as autonomous entities with complete freedom.
Agriculture
PROVISION OF INCOME DIVERSIFICATION PATHWAYS FOR FARMERS
Increased Economic Resilience: Reduces dependency on a single crop or source of income, making farmers more resilient to climate-related risks.
Improved Livelihoods: Enhances overall livelihoods, offering stability and opportunities for growth beyond traditional farming practices
Praveen BVManager – Skilling
Professional Experience: He has previously worked with organizations like Digital Academy 360, Rooman Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Agastya EdTech Pvt. Ltd. and Direct Dialogue Recruiter. He holds expertise in project planning, execution, client acquisition, account management and strategic planning.
Educational Background: Praveen holds a BBM Degree in Marketing from Dayananda Sagar Junior Business School, and Masters Degree in MBA from Sikkim Manipal University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – playing cricket and reading novels.
SupriyaManager – Skilling
Professional Experience: She is a development professional with nine years of experience with organizations like Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society in Bihar and Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation in Delhi. She holds expertise in handling project management in skilling & livelihoods space at the local and national levels, managing budgets, government relations, prospect researching and
partnerships.
Educational Background: Supriya holds B.Com degree from Patna University and Masters Degree in Development Management from Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include reading and cooking.
Priyanka SrivastavaBusiness Analyst
Professional Experience: Her expertise is to closely work with the business teams and understand the
requirements and align the same with the development teams. Her last assignment was with In-solutions Global Pvt Ltd as Functional Business Analyst wherein her major responsibility was to handle the organization’s application which was used to settle NETC (National Electronic Toll Collection ) Toll Transactions for different bank clients. She has also worked with IIT- Delhi as Project Assistant.
Educational Background: Priyanka holds Business Analyst Certificate (IIBA endorsed) and MCA degree from Annamalai University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include reading and cooking.
Sachin ShindeSystem Admistrator
Professional Experience: Sachin brings with him over 15 years of experience in the IT Infrastructure Management. He holds expertise in handling Technology Operations, Information Security, Service Desk Management, Business Application, network maintenance, Linux, Windows (All versions) & MS- DOS. His last assignment was with IFAST Financial India Pvt Ltd as Lead, IT Infrastructure. Previously he has worked with companies like Sunshine Telesoft Pvt Ltd, Fashion Life Style, Entire Software Exports pvt. Ltd. and Comptrain Center Pvt. ltd.
Educational Background: He is a Economics graduate and holds a DBA certification and Diploma in Hardware and Networking.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – playing Cricket & programming.
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a ‘better normal’. The better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and enabling the market.
To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome-oriented social impact initiatives. This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business responsibility strategies that balance people, profit and planet, thereby creating a better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Role Overview:
Looking for a Sr. Associate proficient in working with implementation partners (NGOs & social enterprises), experienced in need identification, program concept creation and delivering end to end execution of projects (preferably healthcare programs). They should have knowledge on monitoring, evaluation & reporting of the projects.
Responsibilities:
Work on end to end program management – Strategy design, implementation and program monitoring for projects related to public health.
Preparing customized proposals per the requirement of the corporates/grant giving agencies
Conduct prospect research to identify, cultivate and solicit new project implementation partners
Independently manage external stakeholder conversations with corporates as well as implementation partners
Work with existing processes/systems whilst making constructive suggestions for improvements.
Work on based data and analysis for program management and insights.
Follow risk management and compliance procedures.
Communicate confidently in a clear, concise and articulate manner – verbally and in written form.
Seek opportunities to learn about other cultures and other parts of the business across the service lines of Samhita.
Uphold the firm’s code of ethics and business conduct
Support the interns and volunteers for field research, survey and developing information on Samhita Verticals.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience:
3+ years of experience of having worked in the education & healthcare sectors
Experience in program implementation, operations and/or management, CSR legal and compliance
Demonstrated success of developing and evaluating program models and NGOs, and selecting and operationalizing programs.
Work Location: Mumbai – Onsite
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.
How to apply: Forward your LinkedIn page or CV to careers@dev.samhita.org
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Amit Garg
About Amit: Amit Garg leads the regional program strategy, grants management and partnerships for the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) in India and Bangladesh. GFEMS is a Washington D.C.-based fund backed by the US, UK and Norwegian governments in addition to private foundations and aims to combat human trafficking in all its forms. This includes labour exploitation, bonded labour & child labour in global supply chains (such as construction and apparel) and commercial sexual exploitation of children. Prior to this, he led the philanthropy portfolio for Credit Suisse (CS) bank aimed at education, financial inclusion and skill development. He also led a similar portfolio for Godrej Properties (part of the larger Godrej Industries Group) prior to CS where the grants were aimed at making rural to urban migration safer. Previously Amit has worked with UNICEF as State Coordinator – Monitoring & Evaluation for the state of Bihar in India.
He has been a development practitioner in the business and human rights space since 2010 including having been part of the foundation teams of two early-stage social enterprises in workforce development in the healthcare sector.
Amit is an alumnus of the United Nations University and Maastricht University and has a double Masters in Public Policy & Human Development.
Nachiket Mor
About Nachiket: Nachiket Mor has a PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. His current work is principally focused on the design of national and regional health systems.
He was a member of the Planning Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Care, the Primary Care Task Force of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Health Commission for the State of Himachal Pradesh, and the Standing Committee on Health Systems Strengthening at the National Academy of Medicine in Washington DC. He helped create a new model for comprehensive primary care, pioneered by SughaVazhvu Healthcare in remote rural parts of Tamil Nadu.
He is currently a Visiting Scientist at The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy (CITAPP) at IIIT Bangalore.
Irfan Nooruddin
About Irfan: Irfan is the Director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council. He is also a Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Dr. Nooruddin conducts research in the political economy of development, trade, and investment, and the challenges of democratization in the 21st century.
He is the author of Elections in Hard Times (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and Coalition Politics and Economic Development (Cambridge University Press, 2011) and more than twenty-five scholarly articles and book chapters. In 2012, he was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC., and is a Team Member of Lokniti: Programme in Comparative Democracy in New Delhi, India. He has received grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID.
Irfan has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a BA in Economics and International Studies from Ohio Wesleyan University. He was born and raised in Bombay where he studied at St. Xavier’s College and St. Stanislaus High School.
Arun Maira
About Arun: Arun Maira is a thought leader on social and economic development and transformational change and leadership. He is an author of several books including Shaping the Future: Aspirational Leadership in India and Beyond; Redesigning the Airplane While Flying: Reforming Institutions; and Transforming Capitalism: Improving the World for Everyone. His most recent book is Listening for Well-Being: Conversations with People Not Like Us. He is a frequent speaker at international forums on the reform of institutions.
Mr. Maira is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of HelpAge International and Chairman of the Foundation for MSME Clusters. He was a Member of the Planning Commission of India from 2009 to 2014, and of the National Innovation Council, besides being Chairman of The Boston Consulting Group in India from 2000-2008. Earlier, he worked with the Tata Group for 25 years in senior management and board positions.
Suhas Misra
About Suhas: Suhas completed his MBA from IIM Calcutta (Class of 2003) and started his professional career with Coca Cola. In 2005 he moved to Nokia as a Regional Sales Training Manager and in 2006, started ChannelPlay- India’s first integrated Sales Process Outsourcing Company. Suhas was also the Chief Operating Officer of Hector Beverages Private Limited – It has quickly carved out a niche for itself, despite having to deal with deep-pocketed competitors with two unique functional beverages – Tzinga and Paper Boat.
Paresh S. Parasnis
About Paresh: Paresh Parasnis in his current position as Head of Piramal Foundation is responsible for all the CSR activities of Piramal Enterprises Limited. Paresh is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and a graduate of Mumbai University. Paresh started his career with Hindustan Lever Limited. He then moved on to HDFC Limited, where he handled various responsibilities. His last assignment in HDFC Ltd was business development and overseeing the operations in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. In November 2000, Paresh moved to a new venture in the HDFC fold to set up the life insurance company, HDFC Standard Life Insurance (a joint venture with Standard Life plc, UK). In November 2008, Paresh was appointed as a full time member of the Board of Directors of HDFC Standard Life and served as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer till July 2012. During his tenure with HDFC Standard Life, he was a Member of Board Committees and Chair / Member of internal management committees. He also has a vast experience in the area of consulting and has been a Project Manager / Financial Analyst in programs funded by multilateral agencies. He brings with him a rich experience of 30 years with major strengths in strategy formulation, project management, time-bound execution and building robust and customer-friendly servicing models.
Krishnan Neelakantan
About Krishnan: Krishnan Neelakantan is Senior Director – Investments & Growth strategy at Ankur Capital, a Mumbai-based early stage venture capital fund that invests into high-impact startups in agriculture, education/skill development, healthcare and rural business sectors. He has extensive experience in financial markets and investment research, as well as social development consulting. He spent 17 years as an equity research analyst, market strategist and Head of India Research at ICICI Securities and CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets as one of the leading advisors to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) investing in Indian equities, he and his team were regularly rated at the top in leading Investor Polls. He then changed tracks to join Samhita Social Ventures as Managing Director to build-up the organization’s profile as a specialised social consulting firm. Krishnan remains on the Board of Directors at Samhita, is on the Board of Mentors for IvyCapital Ventures, is a founding member at Social Venture Partners, Mumbai and is a Patron of Adarsh, a Kochi-based NGO focussed on children with disabilities. He has a B.Tech degree from IIT, Bombay and a Post-graduation in Business Management from the XLRI, Jamshedpur. He has also completed executive development programmes of London Business School and University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.
Amita N. Vyas
About Amita: Dr. Amita Vyas is an Assistant Professor & Director of the Maternal & Child Health masters in public health program in the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and holds an adjunct appointment with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Vyas is a public health scientist whose primary research focuses on reproductive and sexual health. At George Washington University, Dr. Vyas teaches Reproductive Health: US and Global Perspectives, Adolescent Health & Development, Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health, and Management Approaches to Public Health. Dr. Vyas has given lectures and speeches around the country including Capitol Hill and was the Chair for “Partnerships in Health,” an advocacy briefing and event on Capitol Hill aimed at promoting public-private partnerships to address HIV/AIDS in India.
N.S. Raghavan
About N.S. Raghavan: N.S. Raghavan is a co-founder and former Joint Managing Director of Infosys who took voluntary retirement from Infosys in the year 2000 to promote his vision of entrepreneurship and India-based global companies on a broader scale.
Nadathur Holdings & Investments was incorporated with the aim of nurturing knowledge-based and innovation-driven ventures that either target the Indian market or leverage Indian resources to target the global market.
Similarly to encourage entrepreneurship in the country and help incubate start-ups, he set up the N. S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) with a contribution of around Rs 12.5 crores.
N S Raghavan was selected by a reputed panel of international judges to receive the Dhirubhai Ambani Award for the year 2004 on the 57th India’s Independence Day banquet held in Los Angeles on Aug 15th. This award was given to him for his outstanding contribution to Entrepreneurship by FOIAC, the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles and Orange County, State of California and the Congressional offices of the USA.
Luis Miranda
About Luis: Luis is the Managing Trustee of the Collective Good Foundation. He is Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and Advisor to the Nadathur Group. He has been involved in setting up two successful companies – HDFC Bank and IDFC Private Equity. He was earlier a partner at ChrysCapital and has worked at HSBC, Citibank, KPMG and Price Waterhouse. He is a member of the Global Advisory Board of Chicago Booth. Luis advises and supports many not-for-profit organisations in India, using his networks to help these organisations. He is also the Chairman of Centre for Civil Society and CORO. He writes a regular blog for Forbes India. He received an MBA from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
Priya Naik
About Priya: Samhita Social Ventures evolved from Priya’s work with the Nadathur family’s social initiatives in the areas of nature conservation, art, education for differently-abled children, and livelihood generation through microenterprise.
Prior to working with Nadathur’s family office, Priya co-founded The Spark Group, an education company that delivered affordable education to low income communities. At Spark, Priya helped define strategy, created the business plan and was also instrumental in raising funds from IFMR Trust.
Priya’s interest in social entrepreneurship began when she worked as a Researcher at the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. At MIT, Priya was part of two student-led start-ups – Aerovax, a company that created safe, inhalable aerosol vaccines that could be delivered without the use of needles and Kalpataru, a company that delivered innovative, low-cost technology to increase the efficiency of microfinance institutions. Kalpataru’s pilot was tested with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and was presented to Nobel laureate, Dr Muhammad Yunus. Both social enterprises won several awards at MIT.
Priya has worked as a consultant with the International Finance Corporation in Africa. She started her career in Accounting at Arthur Andersen in Mumbai. Her career is an interesting fusion of on-the-ground grassroots solutions through enterprise and strategic consulting experience with established companies, a perfect combination for understanding and implementing CSR projects across the board.
Priya has a Masters in Economics from Yale University, USA, a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA and a Masters in Commerce from Mumbai University where she stood first in the entire graduating class.
Suman Srivastava
About Suman: Suman Srivastava is the Founder and Innovation Artist at Marketing Unplugged. He is also the author of Marketing Unplugged: Spotting the elephants in the room.
Suman Srivastava enjoys doing new things. A graduate of Delhi University, IIM Ahmedabad and IMD Lausanne, he is an advertising man, strategist, author, marathon runner, teacher, social worker, sports fan, creative bartender and an entrepreneur.
Suman has been the CEO of Euro RSCG India for 5 years and also Chief Strategy Officer for Euro RSCG Asia Pacific. He was the Chairman of Euro RSCG’s emerging markets planning council and a member of the global management committee. Lastly, he was Vice Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer of FCB Ulka Group in India.
In 2011, he started an innovation firm called Marketing Unplugged. The focus of the company is to help Indian companies create marketing innovations and thus achieve extraordinary growth. In this capacity, he has been associated with brands such as Raymond (suitings), CaratLane (online jewellery), Network18 (media), Sweekar (cooking oil), Spuul (entertainment app), Johnson & Johnson (OTC), Navneet (stationery) and FCB Ulka to name a few.
Professional Experience: Anisha has total 6+ years of experience in the Automotive and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Consulting, Skill Development, Ed-Tech solutions, Govt. & Private Sector Advisory, Governance & Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Space in designing outcome-based scalable solutions and managing PAN India level projects. Previously she worked with IL&FS Skills Development Corporation Ltd (a leading TVET provider in India) as a Strategy & Business Development Manager in the Corporate Skill Development Vertical handling B2B, B2G and CSR partnerships and solutions. She has also been associated with reputed organizations like Eicher Motors Limited, Teach for India and AIESEC. Being passionate about empowering the under-served population, she has worked extensively on the ground in designing and managing multi-stakeholder and multi-locational projects involving diverse skill sets in rural and semi-urban geographies. She has also worked on several bilateral/ multilateral projects funded by USAID, World Bank, ADB, DFID, UNDP, ILO, IFC etc. focusing on projects aimed at socio-economic development. She has worked on various Cluster Development initiatives in the African continent and GCC countries; with Central Ministries & State Govts on various Govt. Schemes and has designed CSR projects for aspirational districts as prescribed by NITI Aayog (GoI).
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Anisha is an avid reader and loves travelling, listening to music, playing squash, painting & being an active member of global networking clubs.
Mukesh Kumar PandeyNetwork Support – IT
Anirban SahaAnalyst – Implementation
About Anirban: Anirban brings with him a diverse background as a graduate in Electrical Engineering from KiiT University and as a Gandhi fellow! At the Gandhi Fellowship Program, he was extensively involved in Improving Student’s Learning Outcome working in tandem with various school stakeholders in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Anirban’s interests lay in the convergence of education and sports sector.
His curiosity to learn how to create impact through CSR projects at scale has led him to Samhita!
Prachi PatniAssociate – Assessments, RKMS
YaminiAssistant Manager, Implementation REVIVE
Professional Experience: Yamini is an aspiring entrepreneur with 2+ years of experience in social sector. She has worked in different sector from financial inclusion, education, business accumen, health to mental health. She is a team player and After her formal working hours she is a co founder at a mental health organization “Vartamaan care network”, and wanna be illustration artist.
Educational Background: She holds B.A hon in History from Delhi University and Postgraduate professional Certificate in Management Practice and leadership from Vedica scholars Program.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include illustrating, paining and traveling.
Vishal DhaleDirector – Strategy and Alliance Development
Professional Experience: Vishal brings with him over 2 decades of experience across industries like consumer durable, automobile, financial services. His experience has been in Sales, Business Development, Sales Strategy across products. Vishal has been recognized with many awards and accolades in his corporate journey. People who know him consider him to be passionate and a people’s person with clear focus on business and the knack to align people and business. He now wants to leverage his core management skills in the development sector and in the consulting space and that is how Samhita happened to him. He is excited to start his journey with us and impact lives positively.
Educational Background: Vishal is a Mechanical Engineer and holds a Masters Degree in Business Management from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – travelling, nature photography, gardening & cycling
Dr Rashi SabooSenior Associate, Implementation
Professional Experience: A public health professional at heart, the larger goal is to positively influence the public health landscape globally.
Educational Background:
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include playing board games, listening to indie music bands & watching “The Office” on the loop. “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things” is the thought that she would like to leave us with.
Kedar AnnamAssistant Manager
Professional Experience: Kedar is a Development Sector Professional for more than 7 years and have worked in area like sanitation, waste management, WASH, social and financial inclusion, livelihood, health and education.
Educational Background: He is a Mechanical Engineer and holds a Masters Degree in Business Management from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – exploring new places, reading and crafting.
Dipti BairageeSenior Associate – Finance
Professional Experience: Dipti has 9 years of experience into the field of Accounting & Finance
Educational Background:
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – Reading Books and Listening Music
Sanika MoreAssociate – Implementation
Professional Experience: Sanika worked as a Public Relations professional after graduation. Post her masters, she grew passionate about conservation, with a vision of a sustainable and inclusive future. She worked on political campaigns and party’s and politician’s social media. She carried out various PR projects for FMCG and sports brands with a team and a few PR campaigns by herself. She believes in social equality, opportunity and work towards the greater good.
Educational Background: Sanika graduated in Mass Media with a major in journalism and a Masters in Public Policy from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: She is a moviegoer who enjoys cooking, reading historical fiction/non-fiction, sketching and travelling!
Professional Experience: Akshay Kamtam joins us as Assistant Manager – Strategic Partnerships, based out of Mumbai, and will be working closely with Anisha.
Akshay has more than 4 years of experience in consulting, entrepreneurship & account management space. He has worked in Indian and International markets for companies like Ray Business Technologies, Australia & Infratech. He also co-founded a social venture called Marine Meadow Farms where he worked as a think tank for Maharashtra Fishery Department for development of seaweed projects in Maharashtra to tackle climate change and create women empowerment.
Educational Background: Akshay holds Masters Degree from Melbourne Business School, Australia and BBA from Mumbai University.
Professional Experience: Akshay Kamtam joins us as Assistant Manager – Strategic Partnerships, based out of Mumbai, and will be working closely with Anisha.
Akshay has more than 4 years of experience in consulting, entrepreneurship & account management space. He has worked in Indian and International markets for companies like Ray Business Technologies, Australia & Infratech. He also co-founded a social venture called Marine Meadow Farms where he worked as a think tank for Maharashtra Fishery Department for development of seaweed projects in Maharashtra to tackle climate change and create women empowerment.
Educational Background: Akshay holds Masters Degree from Melbourne Business School, Australia and BBA from Mumbai University.
Toji Easo VargheseBusiness Analyst
Professional Experience: Toji Easo Varghese joins us as Business Analyst, he is based out of Mumbai, and will be working closely with Akash.
Toji has been a Business Analyst Professional for the last 5 years working in different domains with the likes of Location Based Services, Logistics and E-Governance with expertise in various reporting, wireframing, and content management applications.
Educational Background: He holds Masters in Management Studies from Mumbai University and is an Engineering Graduate from Mumbai University, both under the domain of Information Technology
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – playing the guitar, long distance touring, singing
Smriti SangamAssociate – Implementation
Professional Experience: Her exposure to social sciences during undergraduation sparked the drive in her to pursue a career in the development sector. Being an inquisitive learner with varied interests, her work experience ranges from Arts Management, Urban Governance and Development to CSR and Public Policy, with her key interests being in the domains of Education, Livelihoods, and Informal Labour. She has previously worked with Praja Foundation, Social Lens Consulting, and Reliance Foundation on projects related to urban governance, Informal settlements, and Education. She has also contributed to a policy research paper on the adoption and effectiveness of Ed-Tech in India submitted to the office of Mr. Ninong Ering (MLA, Arunachal Pradesh). She is passionate about optimally combining her diverse experiences to augment sustainable human development through social policy.
Educational Background: Smriti is a Psychology graduate from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai with a post-graduate degree in Development Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: On a personal front, Smriti finds great joy in balancing her work life with some of her other passions such as solo travel, dancing, cinema and theatre, and doing a range of courses to satisfy her appetite for learning!
Pratik TrivediAssistant Manager, Implementation
Professional Experience: Pratik Trivedi joins us as Assistant Manager Implementation, based out of Mumbai, and will be working closely with Richa.
Pratik has been working in the development sector since last 8 years and has worked on multiple thematic areas. He comes with a strong project management background and has experience in program implementation, monitoring & evaluation, reporting, stakeholder management and designing dashboards. He has worked with organisations such as Learning Links Foundation and Tata Strive, and has handled a PMU of Godrej Properties’ CSR initiatives.
Educational Background: Pratik has done MBA in Social Entrepreneurship from NMIMS Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – Watching movies, playing cricket & volleyball and travelling.
Some of his interests include cycling, cooking, cricket and current affairs.
Abhishek ChandraSenior Associate – Implementation
Professional Experience: Abhishek has an experience of 3 years in the development sector in project implementation leading the Employee Engagement vertical at Piramal Foundation and as a District Consultant- Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen in Bihar working on ground with Tata Trusts and Government of India.
Educational Background: He holds a Masters in Social Entrepreneurship from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his interests include cycling, cooking, cricket and current affairs.
Aman MatetiSenior Associate – REVIVE
Professional Experience: Aman has a mix of working in the project management and construction along with working in the social development field.
Educational Background: He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from GITAM University and a PGD in Development Management from Indian School of Development Management.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – Cycling, reading comic books, making memes, video games
Divya AgarwalAssistant Manager – Research, RKMS
Professional Experience: Her quest to expand the scope of her work to include other areas of development has led her to Samhita. Having led field research in policy-centric projects, she now aims to focus on impact in order to understand the mechanics of positive change and enact the same in ever-expanding areas of need. She has been working as an independent consultant since a while now and some of her past organisations that she worked with were Centre for Civil Society and Tata AIG.
Educational Background: Divya is a law graduate from Symbiosis Law School, Pune with prior work experience in policy research, primarily in education.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: In her leisure time, she likes to explore new places, experiences and ideas.
Ujwala ParabAssistant Manager – HR & Admin
Asha Ashish WellorkarAssistant Manager – Finance
About Asha: Asha has a good amount of knowledge of the account and finance department. Prior to joining Samhita and CGF, she was working with Population First as an Account Officer. She has completed her post graduation in Commerce from Mumbai University and certified in Advance Account and Taxation from ICA Institute. God has blessed her with a small family, which includes her husband, son and herself. She enjoys listening to soft music and spending quality time with family.
Nayonika BasuAssistant Manager – Implementation
Professional Experience: Nayonika has four years of experience in strategy and operations across information systems and governance consulting. She started her career in automobile sector, but it was her varied volunteering and CSR experiences that motivated her to pivot to the social impact sector full-time.
Educational Background: Nayonika holds a B.Tech in Information Technology from SRM University, Tamil Nadu.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – travelling, singing and reading.
Vishal KonbattulwarManager – Monitoring, Evaluation & Research
Professional Experience: Vishal is driven by the need to create tangible social impact, and is biased towards innovative and bold ideas carrying potential to achieving real results. He has spent 5 profound years working on various social problems and enriched competencies in problem solving, strategy and research by endeavouring in inclusive businesses, education and governance.
Educational Background: Vishal holds Master of Technology in Transportation System Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from VNIT Nagpur.
About Shatakshy: Shatakshy is a social science researcher, pursuing her PhD in Social Work from the TISS, with a specialization in participatory research/assessments and Participatory Learning and Action (PLA). Having travelled extensively for fieldwork across the country, Shatakshy has worked with NGOs and people’s networks in community mobilization, people-centred development design and capacity building.
She has worked with various government institutions on designing social accountability tools and was part of the team that designed the social audit manual for the Ministry of Rural Development. Given her research acumen, she was awarded the Institute Shield for the Best MSW Student in Fieldwork at TISS.
She wants to contribute in building transparency and accountability in institutions and feels passionately about research ethics and issues that concern women.
Siddhanta BanerjeeManager – Implementation
About Siddhanta:
Siddhanta has done Masters in Mass Communication and possesses 5 years of work experience while managing teams. His work with his organisation could successfully impact and bring about changes in the Nutritional aspects and Natural Resource Management of 36 Villages in Purulia District. He had read a few articles and thus CSR interested him and so Samhita. He is keen to learn about the various dynamics of CSR in the upcoming years, Siddhanta’s hobbies are Photography and Film Making. One of his movies was shown in Banaras Film Festival. He also loves sports. He has represented his department and schools in various athletic meets.
Miral GosaliaManager – Implementation
About Miral: Post graduate in Sociology (Honors), Miral has been in the development sector since 8+ years with diverse experience raging from program implementation, monitoring and evaluation, liaising with government, fundraising, networking and reporting with relevant stakeholders. She has worked with organisations such as CHILDLINE India Foundation, Cuddles Foundation who has pan India presence. Dance being her passion she is trained in Bharatnatyam and folk dance. She also enjoys reading, music and travelling.
Richa AroraManager – Implementation
Professional Experience: She started her career in a de-addiction centre after which she also served as a school counsellor and thereafter joining Kaivalya Education Foundation as a Program Leader. With a certification in human resource and management, Richa has been a part of Samhita since 2018.
Educational Background: Hailing from the beautiful land of Jammu, Richa has done her Masters in Psychology from the University of Jammu.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: She is an outward friendly and a pleasant personality with extreme fondness towards food and dogs. Her outgoing and free nature is what makes her unique. She truly believes in ‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Avantika SethCommunication Specialist
Professional Experience: Avantika has a vast experience as a Journalist, Researcher, Oral Historian, Documentary Filmmaker, and Podcaster. She is a staunch believer in the power of storytelling and her primary interest lies in recording, archiving, and communicating personal life stories of people or organizations.
Educational Background: She is a graduate from Asian College of Journalism where she specialized in New Media. Before she made this switch in her life, she finished her degree as Bachelors of Commerce Honors from Delhi University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Apart from documenting family histories and archiving objects, She loves to indulge in the world of psychology, neuroscience, and narrative therapy. She spends a lot of time communicating with auto-rickshaw drivers and writing their life histories.
Shiv Kumar PandeySenior Manager – Skilling
Professional Experience: Shiv has 10 years of experience, He was designated as DGM in Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) handling Standards, Operations & Special projects i.e RPL, NAPS & Strategic projects.
Educational Background: He holds an MBA – PGDM in Telecom from MITSOT, Pune and Engineering degree in Electronics & Communications from RGPV University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include Watching Sci-Fi movies and love to read on innovative products
Dhatri KotakSenior Manager – Finance
Professional Experience: She has worked for more than 7 years in the Accounts & Finance sector. She has 3 years of experience as an article assistant and more than 4 years of post qualifications experience. Prior to Samhita, she was part of the Accounts and Finance team of Backbone Construction Private Limited and Jain Wealth Managers Private Limited where she looked after the finalisation of accounts, auditing and taxation work.
Educational Background: Dhatri is rank holder of the Gujarat Board and a qualified Chartered Accountant with a Bachelors in Commerce.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: She is fond of travelling to places of natural beauty and loves dancing.
Dr Vinti K. AgarwalDirector – MEL
Professional Experience:
Vinti has had more than 2 decades of experience across academic institutions, professional training organizations and non-governmental organizations in roles of research, capacity building, consulting and MEL. She is proficient in designing MEL systems and impact evaluation studies including those with a gendered and mixed methods approach.
Educational Background:
She holds a specialization in economics, finance, and data analytics. This includes a C.F.A designation from ICFAI, a doctorate in economics from C.C. S University and an M.S in Government Analytics from Johns Hopkins University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies:
She loves reading, listening to music, enlightening talks, watching classic old-time movies and standup comedy shows. She also enjoys bonding with people over cups of tea and looks forward to occasional travel for quiet reflections and learning.
Sanjoli JainCS Professional
About Sanjoli: Hello, my name is Sanjoli Jain, and I am excited to join this company as a CS professional. I have worked for two years in a CS firm, where I gained experience in dealing with contracts, wills, company law, and various other laws. In addition to my professional background, I am also visually impaired, which has given me a unique perspective on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. As a result, I have a strong desire to work in the development sector and help empower underprivileged communities. I am committed to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups, and I look forward to contributing my skills and experience to create positive change.
HemlataManager – Flagship Team
Professional Experience: She comes with multi-sectoral experience of working and leading various government projects and strategic initiatives across state and central government. She has been instrumental in strategizing and executing campaigns for political and bureaucratic leadership/organizations by combining a top-down management consulting approach with a bottom-up understanding of the governance ecosystem, and leveraging technology and data to drive impact at scale. In addition to the consulting experience she has exposure to Inside Sales, Relationship Management, Contact Centre Operations Management, Brand Strategy and Learning & Development in a B2C and B2B environment.
Educational Background: Hemlata holds a degree in Commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce and Masters in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – Reading, gardening, traveling, photography and cooking.
Aswathy SAssociate – Research Team
Professional Experience: Aswathy started her journey as a Database Engineer with Zoho. Post that she did her Post graduate program in Public Policy, Design & Management from the Indian School of Public Policy.
During her internships with she has worked closely with Capacity Building Commission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and NUVAH on mental health in Indian workplace.
Educational Background: Aswathy has completed her B. Tech in Computer Science Engineering from University of Kerala and
completed P.G. in Public policy, Design and Management from Indian School of Public Policy, New Delhi.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include traveling, photography and doing art especially fluid art
Nirmala MathewSenior Manager – Research Team
Professional Experience:
Nirmala is a development practitioner with a decade of experience in research, documentation and communications. She has led teams and managed diverse projects across themes of nutrition, child protection, education, health and gender. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also worked on projects related to risk communication and community engagement (RCCE). She focuses on research design, including tool development, field team training and recruiting, project oversight, monitoring, data collection and analysis and research report writing.
Educational Background: Nirmala holds a Masters in Development Practice from University of Denver, Colorado and a M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from University of Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies:
Some of her hobbies include reading, baking and running.
Swastika BhuyanAssociate – Implementation Team
Professional Experience: During her internships, Swastika has worked in various thematic areas like livelihood for women, returnable grants, mapping the climate vulnerabilities of Bihar and Assam etc.
Educational Background: Swastika holds a Masters degree in Development Policy, Planning and Practice from Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include dancing, writing, reading. She is a professional kathak dancer and holds a B. Music degree.
Nora AlexySenior Associate – Implementation Team
Professional Experience: Nora Alexy has a strong passion for creating social impact and worked as a research fellow with EQUATIONS, Bangalore. With a deep understanding of social contexts and issues, Nora is dedicated to positively impacting people’s lives, with areas of interest being the creation of sustainable livelihoods while also keeping in mind the various intersectionalities such as gender.
Educational Background: Nora Alexy completed her Gandhi Fellow and Master’s in Development Policy, Planning, and Practice from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tuljapur.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include singing, playing the piano and writing music.
Vishakshi RajAssociate – MEL team
Professional Experience: She has done her internships with Plural Societies, South Asian Women’s Fund India (SAWF IN), Palle Srujuna and many more think tanks and research organizations.
She is passionate about working in the projects including financial inclusion, gender, and labour market assessments.
Educational Background: Vishakshi has completed her Masters in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad and she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Delhi.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – travel, reading books, cooking, and photography.
IpsitaAssociate – MEL team
Professional Experience: Ipsita is passionate about the impact sector and comes with an experience of working across various thematic areas like education, livelihood, skilling, gender and agriculture. She has worked with Sattva Consulting and PureScan AI.
Educational Background: She holds a degree in Geography from Kirorimal College, Delhi University and pursued the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include reading some spiritual & philosophical book, marveling at some historical places, doing yoga or pilates.
Biswanath SenapatiManager – Finance Team
Professional Experience: Biswanath has worked in development sector and handled various portfolios like statutory compliance, banking reconciliation, project management, audit etc. He has also worked with SOS Children’s Villages of India, CBM Bangalore, American India Foundation, India Development Foundation and The Nature Conservancy.
Educational Background: Biswanath is CA (intermediate) and has done Bachelor of Commerce from BJB(A) College, Bhubaneswar.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – travelling, making new friends, bird watching, nursing.
Shivani TripathiAssociate – Implementation Team
Professional Experience: Shivani has worked as a Gandhi Fellow at the Piramal Foundation, she has gained expertise in community development, conducting dipstick studies, and community profiling focusing on health awareness and hygiene practices for mothers and children. She also contributed to public health efforts, including the Aashwashan campaign to increase TB notification rates. She gained skills in stakeholder management, research, and interventions in health, nutrition, and education.
Educational Background: Shivani holds a degree in Bachelor in Life Sciences from Ramjas College, University of Delhi and Masters in Design and Innovation in Rural Technology from University of Allahabad.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include playing badminton and travelling.
Dr. Prashika KurlikarSr. Associate – MEL Team
Professional Experience:
She has worked on various public health-related issues like women and migration, gender and labour, the reproductive and sexual health of women (RTI/STI), child health, and occupational health.
Educational Background:
She has completed her PhD in Population Studies from the International Institute For Population Sciences and M.Phil & Master in Population Studies from the International Institute For Population Sciences.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – Dancing and cooking.
Harsha KumavatData Analyst
Professional Experience: Harsha has expertise data visualization tools like Tableau, Power BI, Seaborn, and Plotly and programming languages like Python. She is proficient at MySQL and Excel and managing large database. She has worked as an intern for The Sparks Foundation, TwoWaits, Accenture, PwC and Standard Bank.
Educational Background: She holds BSc in Computer Science from Nagindas Khandwala College and Master’s Degree in Information Technology from Nagindas Khandwala College.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – programming, writing blogs, cooking and listening to music.
Surabhi ShikhaManager – Marketing and Communications
Professional Experience: Surabhi holds expertise in building brand strategy, curating campaigns and developing successful learning programs within the academic, social and e-commerce sectors. During her tenure, she has managed end-to-end projects and coordinated with various teams, stakeholder and partnerships.
Educational Background: Surabhi holds a Masters degree in Development Studies from TISS Mumbai, and completed her Bachelors in English Literature from Lady Shri Ram College for Women (Delhi University).
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – collecting vintage sarees, tending to her plants and taking solo travel adventures.
Amruta AdhyapakSenior Associate – Implementation team
Professional Experience: Amruta has successfully carried out project implementation, stakeholder management, documentation, building reports and project proposals during her tenure with various organizations. She has worked in various thematic areas like education, child sexual abuse, livelihood & skill development, sexual & reproductive health and rights & road safety.
Educational Background: Amruta holds a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from University of Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include gardening, reading, drawing, and cooking.
Dr. Usha GopinathExecutive Director – Impementation
Professional Experience: She has 2 decades of demonstrated experience in the social sector in senior leadership positions. Has worked for multi lateral and bi lateral organizations such as World Bank, ADB, IFC, CIDA, AKF, DFID, UK AID, FCDO, PwC, KfW & Accion International. Led multiple teams across Asia in capacity building, leading large projects to bring scale & sustainability. Certified in markets and livelihoods from Coadys International Nova Scotia and Leadership course from Harvard .
Enjoys working on programs that are impactful and brings transformational change to the last mile. Thematic areas handled are women empowerment, entrepreneurship, skilling, livelihoods, WATSAN, education, gender mainstreaming. Highly passionate about entrepreneurial initiatives & creating the right strategic fit.
Educational Background: She holds a Masters in Economics and a Doctoral degree in Enterprise Management from Bangalore University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Usha enjoys travelling , plays the instrument Veena and is a movie buff. Believes in “Zindaginamilegidobara”, very humorous and lively person , enjoys gardening, cooking and reading friction. Likes to blog experiences while travelling and has a keen eye on observing people and mimicking.
Syeda FarkhandaAnalyst – RKMS
Professional Experience: Syeda Farkhanda completed her post graduation in 2022 and worked with Samhita (Collective Good Foundation) for 3 months. This aligned with her interests in the field of Development Economics and helped expand her knowledge in the field.
Educational Background: Syeda holds a BSc. in Economics degree from Loreto College, University of Calcutta and an MSc. In Economics degree from the University of Calcutta.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – reading books, listening to music, watching movies and writing.
Sreyoshi BhattacharyaAssociate – Implementation team
Professional Experience: Sreyoshi is a development practitioner and researcher with keen interest in public health, sustainability and gender rights. She aspires to learn and develop more in this sector and make this world a better place to live!
Educational Background: Sreyoshi holds a B.Sc in Geography from University of Calcutta and M.A in Development from Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
Shiboni SundarInsights Associate – RKMS
Professional Experience: Shiboni worked with Centre for Budget and Policy Studies wherein she gained experience with working in public finance, gender and education largely. She also engaged herself with government officials and has provided trainings on budget data analysis. Her work led her to explore different parts of India which in turn expanded her knowledge base as the dynamic nature of field enabled her in understanding the ground realities of public policy closely.
Educational Background: Shiboni holds a B.Com degree from the University of Mumbai and a M.Sc. In Economics from Symbiosis School of Economics (Symbiosis International University)
Personal Interests and Hobbies: In her free time, you will find her reading books , playing badminton or cooking up a meal while sipping a good cup of coffee.
Kajol SitaniAnalyst – RKMS
Professional Experience: Kajol has worked with Foundation for Democratic Reforms in the Research segment and has a brief experience in experiential marketing with Crewtangle LLP. This aligns with her interest in Research and strategy planning across varied socio-economic domains of importance.
Educational Background: Kajol has completed her graduation in IT and master in Public Policy from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include Yoga and Teaching.
Divya WagleAssociate – Growth and Innovation
Professional Experience: Divya is a development studies and public policy enthusiast. Her academic focuses included international relations, subaltern studies, street level bureaucracy, policy design and more recently, impact investing. Her previous experience includes business development and data analysis internships at PATH, Teach For India, Piramal Foundation, Saathealth and NDTV.
Educational Background: Divya holds a BA(Hons) in Political Science and Diploma in Advanced Research from Ashoka University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include playing basketball, travelling/backpacking, watching plays, reading and
trying new food.
Sweden DsilvaSweden Dsilva
Professional Experience: Sweden Dsilva has developed creative designs for marketing packages – including print materials, textures, brochures, banners and signages.
He has also good knowledge on video editing, illustrators, Indesign and Photoshops. He has worked with organizations like Eschmann Textures, Cimpress India Private Limited, ABEC Exhibitions & Conferences Pvt. Ltd, TT Group Worldwide and Chinagate Restaurants Pvt. Ltd..
Educational Background: Sweden Dsilva holds B.E. in Computer Engineering from St. John College of Engineering & Management.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – bike rides, swimming, playing videogames and drawing.
Aakriti SinghAssociate – Marcomm Team
Professional Experience: Aakriti has been working in the social sector through diverse roles in research, public relations and communication.
Her major contributions have been in/around the fields of gender, inclusivity and education. She has done her internships in Value 360 Communications where she assisted in handling client companies, Youth Empowerment Foundation ,Pratisandhi and many more.
Educational Background: Aakriti holds a bachelor’s degree with a major in journalism and minor in psychology from Lady Shri Ram College for Women.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Aakriti is passionate about theatre, and film- making, and finds resilience in art.
Hardik RaiDigital Strategy and Planning Specialist
Professional Experience: Hardik is a self-proclaimed marketing geek. Prior to joining Samhita, Hardik has honed his skills in two prominent Ed-tech companies, further enhancing his capabilities in the field of marketing. He likes Social Media so much that he made it his profession. Hardik’s expertise is Social media marketing alongside media buying, email marketing, and SEO.
Educational Background: Hardik holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Delhi.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include – Playing Football, Reading, and Skateboarding.
Ayushi BhatnagarAyushi Bhatnagar
Professional Experience: Ayushi is a knowledgeable professional with over 3 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sectors. She has technical proficiency in a wide range of areas, including communications, learning and development, training, and capacity building services. She has previously worked for a leading Humanitarian Non-profit Organization and a prominent CSO/Think Tank that advocates Sustainability and Climate Change-related initiatives.
Educational Background: She graduated with Honours in Geography from Kamala Nehru College, Delhi University and is a University Gold Medalist with a Master’s degree in Disaster Management from Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Ayushi is a good conversationalist who likes travelling and listening to music. She is interested in gardening and enjoys watching films as well as television shows.
Vinay MenonSenior Manager
Professional Experience: Vinay started his career with Samhita in 2016 in the Research and Knowledge team, before moving on to handle strategic partnerships with key donors, before moving on to work with Piramal Foundation’s water initiative Sarvajal. At Savajal, Vinay led the New Product Development team and was instrumental in driving product expansion into water conservation and Government partnerships, including with NITI Aayog and NSDC.
Educational Background: Vinay holds a MSc in Development Economics from SOAS, London and a BA in Economics from St Xavier’s Collge, Mumbai.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Vinay holds a MSc in Development Economics from SOAS, London and a BA in Economics from St Xavier’s Collge, Mumbai.
Archita SharmaAssociate
Professional Experience: Aarchita has worked as a Young Professional at the Rajasthan Grameen Aajeevika Vikas Parishad (RGAVP), Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Rajasthan. She then joined as an Academic Associate at the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad.
Educational Background: Aarchita holds a BA in Social Sciences from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a MA in Development Studies from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include – reading fiction and graphic novels, baking and East Asian media.
Varnika JainAssistant Manager – MEL Team
Professional Experience: Varnika has 4 years of experience in Research, Data Interpretation, Analysis & Visualization. She has extensive knowledge of research, analysis techniques, statistical tools such as R, Python, STATA, SQL, Tableau and Advanced Excel.
Educational Background: She holds Master’s degree in Economics from Amity University and B.A. Hons in Economics from Delhi University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include Art & craft and dancing.
Nehal ShahExecutive Director – Alliances
Professional Experience: Nehal brings with him over 25 years of experience in diversified sectors like Beverages, Telecom, Insurance,
Media & Financial Services, Banking. His prior experience has been with companies like Coca-Cola, Airtel, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Bharti-Axa Life Insurance, Newswire18, DB Corp Ltd, Swaadhar. He joins us from
Light Microfinance where he was a Chief Business Officer and was instrumental in growing the business from 80cr to 1800 cr in the span of over 6 years and was managing a employee strength of over 2000.
Educational Background: Nehal holds a graduate degree in Industrial Chemistry and a Post Graduate degree in Marketing. He also has completed advanced program in Fin-Tech & Financial Block chain from IIM-C.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: During his free time he loves watching sci-fi movies, listening to music, exploring new places and keep a watch on new technology and gadgets.
Shiv UppalSpecialist – Growth & Innovation
Professional Experience: Shiv is a former Consultant at Ernst & Young Singapore where he worked with the Business Incentives Advisory team, helping clients obtain various grants and incentives offered by the Singapore government agencies.
Educational Background: He holds BSc in Information Systems from Singapore Management University.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of his hobbies include playing and watching sports (all kinds), reading and cooking
Akshatha KarangutkarAssociate Director – HR
Professional Experience: Akshatha brings with her over 17 years of experience in Human Resources across industries. She joins us from Bank of Baroda Financial Services. Her prior experience has been with Dainik Bhaskar Group as their Corporate HR Head. She has worked with Adfactors PR, NewsWire 18 and Centrum Finance in the past.
Educational Background: She is a Computer Science graduate and holds a Post Graduate degree in Human Resources from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: Some of her hobbies include reading books, writing blogs, teaching.
Ritu HalderExecutive Director – Strategic Partnerships
Professional Experience: Ritu has more than two decades of experience in cross-functional teams across MNCs and UN organizations in India, Europe, CIS and the US.
She holds expertise in building strategic alliances & partnerships. Her last assignment was with NASSCOM Foundation where she was working as Head-Donor Relations. She has also worked as Independent Consultant with multiple organizations in Nepal, UAE , India, Hill+Knowlton Strategies India, United Nations Women’s Guild, Vienna, IPAN Hill & Knowlton and Convergys Corporation.
Madhu BahlExecutive Director
Professional Experience: Madhu Bahl has totally more than 30 + years of experience in the education space which includes teaching, designing, training, content creation and building profitable models and interventions that are both scalable and sustainable. She has worked independently as a design and training consultant with well-known funding agencies and social organizations. She also has 15 years of corporate experience at senior management level where she was responsible for profitability along with a deep focus on product development and business delivery. Her corporate responsibilities include experience in working with both the private and the government sector. She has built and worked extensively with large teams, both across physical geography and social demography.
Afshan ShaikhAssociate Director
Professional Experience: Afshan is a marketing and communications professional with over 18 years of experience in the field. She has previously worked with the Swades Foundation and Child Rights and You (CRY) in the social development sector. She has been a part of multiple award-winning marketing and awareness campaigns, specializing in brand transformation, creative direction, and marketing strategy. Prior to moving to the social sector, she worked extensively with advertising and media agencies, as well as corporate houses.
Educational Background: Afshan has a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Sikkim Manipal University, and a Bachelor’s in Commerce from S.N.D.T University, Mumbai. She believes in continuous learning and has completed courses in advanced technologies (including XR, AI, and IoT), and design thinking.
Personal Interests and Hobbies: She is an astrophysics and pop culture geek who enjoys reading, painting, board games, and lightsaber dueling with her children. She is also a published author of fiction.
Organisation Overview (Samhita.org)
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a ‘better normal’. The better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and enabling the market.
To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome-oriented social impact initiatives.
This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business responsibility strategies that balance people, pro- t and planet, thereby creating a better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Role Overview
The role sits within the Financial Innovation team, which is responsible for all financial products like returnable grants, credit guarantee backed loans, pre credit scores and other behavioural scores that Samhita will create/manage in collaboration with its partners, to help micro, nano and solo entrepreneurs get access to capital and increase their incomes.
The incumbent will need to manage product lifecycles (build, test, monitor and refine) for financial products that Samhita builds, e.g. the Pre-Credit score.
The role will involve hypothesis testing, statistical modelling using logistic regression and other ML techniques to design, build, validate and maintain behavioural scores such as the Pre-Credit Score and the Human Capital Score.
Apart from building and managing scores, this role will also involve other standard and ad-hoc analyses of the customer and partner data for insights with regards to operational efficiency and effectiveness of programs and interventions. Storytelling in the form of dashboarding will be necessary to present insights.
In order to perform the above-mentioned functions, the person will need to closely liaise with internal stakeholders such as the Implementation team, Technology team etc. and also with external stakeholders like alliance partners.
The person will also be expected to guide other team members on data and product related aspects.
The role is integral for the organisation’s REVIVE Alliance, through which we hope to reach out to 10 million individuals in the next 5 years.
Roles & Responsibilities
Managing product lifecycles for all financial products in the blended finance continuum
Use of statistical modelling techniques such as logistic regression and ML techniques like XGB, Random Forest as needed to build behavioural scores
Research to find the optimal solution for a given use case, keeping in mind operationalisation and explainability requirements
Hypothesis testing, scenario analysis, finding correlations in data, and other standard and ad-hoc analyses to uncover drivers of program effectiveness and operational efficiencies and thereby help drive a culture of data driven decision making in the organisation
Collaboration with internal Samhita-CGF and clients/partners for data collection
Streamlining and consolidating data in a format that can be easily used for reporting
Responsible for reviewing the data for anomalies/inconsistencies
Communicating with the internal teams on regular intervals for data requirements and changes
Critical thinking to challenge norms, and strive for continuous improvements in data products and processes
Troubleshooting data related queries
Skills Required
BA/BSc. Degree in Computer Science, Decision Sciences, Data Science, Data Analysis or related field
2-4 years of relevant experience
Experience with R/Python
Experience with SQL databases
Proficiency in MS Office Word, Access, Excel
Knowledge of Microsoft BI and Tableau will be an advantage but not essential
Problem solving mindset and being open to working in an agile environment
Basic knowledge and understanding of information collection, analysis, distribution systems and modern database systems or ability to adapt
Problem solving, time management, interpersonal and critical thinking skills
Team player and self-starter
Work Location: Mumbai/Delhi
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a ‘better normal’. The better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and enabling the market.
To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome-oriented social impact initiatives. This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business responsibility strategies that balance people, profit and planet, thereby creating a better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Role Overview:
The role will play a critical role in implementing programs related to climate action and Sustainability with a focus on the agriculture ecosystem and FPOs. The selected candidate will contribute towards program design and implementation of projects as well as capacity building of external stakeholders to strengthen climate action planning and execution. Therefore, it is important that the selected candidate has:
A solid grounding in technical aspects of Agriculture and climate change landscape in India, with knowledge of contemporary tools, frameworks and assessment methodologies.
Excellent understanding of the Farm Producer companies; including relevant policy initiatives, gaps in current frameworks, and knowledge of stakeholders, networks and organisations working in this space.
Overall, we are looking for an energetic, committed and passionate young professional, who is driven and self-motivated and can work under minimal supervision. Since coordination with multiple internal and external stakeholders is required, it is essential that the selected candidate is familiar, adept and comfortable working with a diverse group of people.
Key Functions and Responsibilities:
Work on end-to-end program management – implementation and program monitoring for projects related to Climate adaptation and the Agriculture ecosystem.
Building linkages with stakeholders relevant to the FPO ecosystem, Develop business development plans for FPOs, Improve governance of FPOs
Coordinate with Government agencies and service providers related to agriculture ecosystem
Independently manage FPO stakeholder conversations with government agencies, Technology and other service providers as well as implementation partners
Work with existing processes/systems whilst making constructive suggestions for improvements.
Stay updated on the policy landscape, sectoral developments, and industry trends in relation to climate action and Agriculture in India.
Work on based data and analysis for program management and insights.
Provide technical inputs on climate action and Agriculture, and contribute to the development of the overall strategy and program design
Contribute to the ideation, review, and proposal writing for ongoing and future projects.
Coordinate with internal and external team members, as required.
Perform any other tasks and responsibilities as may be required from time to time.
Educational Qualification and Professional Experience
MSc Agriculture/Environment Studies / Agro Forestry, MBA in Agribusiness/Rural Management / Rural Development or any other Postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline such as Agriculture, Environmental Studies, Environmental Economics/Policy etc.
4 years of relevant experience in one or more of the following: Managing climate adaptation initiatives related to farmers, Managing FPOs, Program management, and stakeholder engagement for climate action (Candidates who have previously worked on initiatives focused on Climate adaptation and agriculture/ FPOs will be preferred)
Demonstrated success in directly working with Farmers and FPOs
Understanding of Government agencies related Agriculture and Water.
Demonstrated experience in contributing to the firm’s knowledge building capacities of stakeholders.
Strong presentation, problem solving and analytical skills.
Proactive, ability to self-motivate and work under minimal supervision.
Proficient in Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Word.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills (Marathi or Kannada preferred
Work Location: Mumbai/Bangalore
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.
How to apply: Forward your LinkedIn page or CV to careers@dev.samhita.org
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Associate Director
Afshan is a marketing and communications professional with over 18 years of experience in the field. She has previously worked with Swades Foundation and Child Rights and You (CRY) in the social development sector. She has been a part of multiple award winning marketing and awareness campaigns, specializing in brand transformation, creative direction, and marketing strategy. Prior to moving to the social sector, she has worked extensively with advertising and media agencies, as well as corporate houses.
Afshan has a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Sikkim Manipal University, and a Bachelor’s in Commerce from S.N.D.T University, Mumbai. She believes in continuous learning and has completed courses in advanced technologies (including XR, AI, and IoT), and design thinking.
She is an astrophysics and pop culture geek who enjoys reading, painting, board games, and lightsaber duelling with her children. She is also a published author of fiction.
Credit Guarantee (CG) Facility (RGs)
As mentioned above, our target demographic is considered to be “too high-risk” for formal credit, and existing government support credit guarantee / first loss default guarantee schemes do not cater to this demographic. Hence, we aim to provide credit guarantee support to our partner NBFCs, thereby reducing the lending risk and opening avenues to formal credit for our participants. Typically, these participants will be either informal workers requiring loans for skilling or micro-entrepreneurs requiring skilling or working capital support, and will require larger ticket sizes. While credit guarantee facilities exist in the market, we are aiming to create the first facility in India that supports primarily NTI, NTC and NTFC segments with SIDBI CGTMSE. We aim to pilot an INR 500 Cr credit guarantee facility in the next few months which can be scaled up to 20x to unlock INR 10,000 Cr of loans to these segments.
Returnable Grants (RGs)
The returnable grant is a zero-interest, zero-collateral loan with no legal obligation to repay, only a moral obligation. RGs are typically offered to participants who are deemed either “ineligible” or “too high-risk” to access formal credit, and hence require the access to capital support to upskill themselves (for individual participants) and/or grow their businesses (for micro-entrepreneurs). These participants typically have smaller capital needs, and hence RGs of ticket sizes of up to INR 20,000.
Financial Literacy and Inclusion
Only 27% of Indian adults are considered to be financially literate. Without any formal training or knowledge, workers and entrepreneurs are often unable to separate personal, household, and business finances which slows down their professional growth. Therefore, we are partnering with multiple banks to ensure that all participants that are supported by REVIVE receive financial literacy training. Additionally, we are working with Appreciate to support the financial inclusion of these participants by supporting them with opening bank accounts, making micro-savings and investments, and inculcating responsible financial practices in their daily personal and professional lives.
Mandate: Providing sanitation facilities for women engaged at informal workplaces and a 1:1 match establishing the company as a thought leader.
A global FMCG company was keen on furthering its promise of building exceptional workplaces through social responsibility initiatives.
The company invested in supporting a program to provide safe and sustainable sanitation facilities for women working in informal workplaces e.g.: markets through:
Modular infrastructure such as toilets integrated with advanced technology to ensure seamless usage and maintenance
Conducting behaviour change communication to influence women & communities to adopt better hygiene practices
The program is reaching out to:
10,000+ community members
2 wards
2000+ women
28 toilets
The Apparel company wanted to empower women that work in their factory with life skills that would enable them to be more empowered both on the job as well as in the future (most women prefer to find alternate employment after 3-4 years).
Interventions
3-year program delivered through a 240-hour curriculum, based on interactive learning
6 training components; English Literacy, Digital Literacy, Financial Literacy, Life skills, Career Counselling & Introduction to Entrepreneurship along with aspiration building and engagement session, to enhance overall development of women
Blended model of leaning; in-person sessions & engagement beyond classrooms through online platforms, to ensure continuous learning
Innovative & collaborative solutions such as identifying high potential participants, developing critical thinking & conflict resolution skills, introducing foundations of leadership, etc. to fast-track their growth
Sensitization of factory stakeholders to support the upliftment of the women workers
Impact
Reduced absenteeism/attrition rate
Women Empowerment, Education, Skilling
720 women workers impacted
Greater awareness & improved interpersonal skills
Improved workforce management
Enhanced workplace productivity
India’s largest engineering and construction company with a CSR budget of Rs. 100 Cr wanted to review and consolidate its CSR activities and create a flagship program that could be implemented at different types of locations – long-standing campuses to short-term project sites
Samhita interviewed key leaders and undertook extensive desk research to design a flagship program in Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) in schools, a cause that was strategically aligned to business and designed an employee engagement component for the same.
Additionally, we also created a suite of standardised programs that could be executed in an efficient way across their other sites.
In Phase II, Samhita is providing project management support to execute the STEM project, including identifying NGOs and monitoring the entire project
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a ‘better normal’. The better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and enabling the market.
To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome-oriented social impact initiatives. This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business responsibility strategies that balance people, profit and planet, thereby creating a better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Role Brief:
We are looking for a Quality Assurance Engineer to join our growing Technology team. Apart from assessing the changing needs of the business, you will be responsible for ensuring the quality of the applications and services that are built. You will play a critical role in ensuring the quality, reliability, and performance of software applications, products, or systems. This position is integral to the software development process, with a primary focus on identifying defects, preventing issues, and ensuring that the final product meets or exceeds predefined quality standards.
Roles & Responsibilities
Test Planning and Strategy: Develop and execute comprehensive test plans, test cases, and test strategies for web applications.
Functional Testing: Perform end-to-end testing to verify the functionality and user-friendliness of web applications.
Regression Testing: Continuously monitor and perform regression testing to ensure the stability of the application during the development lifecycle.
Automation Testing: Implement and maintain automated test scripts using industry-standard tools and frameworks (e.g., Selenium, Cypress) to improve test efficiency.
Performance Testing: Conduct performance testing to identify and address bottlenecks, ensuring the application meets performance benchmarks.
Security Testing: Collaborate with the security team to perform security testing and identify vulnerabilities and risks in web applications.
Cross-Browser and Cross-Platform Testing: Ensure compatibility across different browsers and platforms to provide a consistent user experience.
Bug Tracking: Identify, document, and prioritize defects using bug tracking systems (e.g., JIRA) and work closely with development teams to resolve issues.
Collaboration: Collaborate with developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to ensure alignment on project goals and quality standards.
Documentation: Create and maintain detailed test documentation, including test cases, test scripts, and test reports.
Continuous Improvement: Stay up-to-date with industry best practices, tools, and technologies related to QA and suggest improvements to the QA process.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field.
Proven experience as a QA Engineer in web application software development.
Strong knowledge of software QA methodologies, tools, and processes.
Proficiency in test automation using Selenium, Cypress, or similar tools.
Familiarity with agile development methodologies.
Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
Strong communication and collaboration abilities.
Attention to detail and a commitment to quality.
Based out of: Mumbai/Delhi
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.
How to apply: Forward your LinkedIn page or CV to careers@dev.samhita.org
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OECD- DAC Impact Evaluation
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has developed the normative framework to determine the worth and the merit of the intervention. The framework has six evaluation criterias- relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. The key concepts for each criteria are defined below-
Relevance will help us understand the extent to which the intervention objectives and design respond to the beneficiaries and any gaps identified
Coherence will help us understand the compatibility of the intervention with LTI’s policies and other such intervention in the sector
Effectiveness will help us understand the extent to which the interventions have achieved its targets
Efficiency will help us understand the extent to which the intervention has delivered results in an economic and timely manner
Impact will help us understand the extent to which the intervention has generated significant positive or negative, intended or unintended effects
Sustainability will allow us to understand the extent to which the benefits will continue
The OECD- DAC evaluations can be used to evaluate many different topics and types of interventions including thematic areas, or strategic issues, policies and projects. The framework is widely used and allows evaluators and encourages those involved in designing and managing the interventions to think deeply about the nature of the intervention, its implementation process, its outcomes and results.
Social Return on Investment Evaluation (SROI)
SROI methodology was introduced in early 2000. It was developed consultatively by economists, CAs and development practitioners as a means of measuring social value. It was piloted in the UK by NEF (New Economics Foundation), Social Value and DFID. An SROI analysis is an attempt to calculate evaluative Social Return on Investment (SROI) for a programme. SROI is a framework for measuring and accounting for a broader concept of value. It measures how change is being created by measuring social, environmental and economic outcomes and uses monetary values to represent them. This supports the clients to understand the utilisation of funds more objectively.
Social Audits
A social audit is a way of measuring, understanding, reporting and improving an organisation’s or a project’s social performance. A social audit helps to narrow gaps between the defined goal and reality, between efficiency and effectiveness. It is a technique to understand, measure, verify, report on and to improve the social performance of the organisation and/ or a project.
The main objective of the social audit would be to –
Verify the extent to which proposed project activities have been carried out
Assess various stakeholders’ response to the project so far
Provide suggestions for more effective project implementation
These objectives will be achieved by following a 3×3 model that focuses on:
Assessing three aspects of every project – stakeholder participation (internal and external), efficiency in planning and delivering the project and effectiveness of the project in achieving the objectives
Auditing the program at three levels – Company’s local teams, implementing NGOs and community/ end beneficiaries
Social audits can be used to evaluate ongoing programs and can help reveal weaknesses in program strategies and implementation, enabling the company/ implementation agency to make necessary adjustments and improvements. This process can lead to more effective and efficient programs
Community Needs Assessment (CNA)
A CNA study is a collaborative process that engages community stakeholders in determining the nature and extent of both needs and resources in a community, and the feasibility to implement initiatives. It typically identifies and responds to a specific social problem or problems in a community.
Samhita-CGF adopts an action-oriented and multi-stakeholder approach to community needs assessment. The study generally addresses four main objectives:
To carry out socio-economic profiling of the study location
To evaluate current level of service provisions in the community
To identify and evaluate projects that could address the gaps/ needs in the community
To identify areas/sectors of intervention and its feasibility of conducting interventions
Community needs assessments demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen. By listening to and understanding the unique challenges and aspirations of local communities, the CSR initiatives can become more tailored and responsive.
Organisation Overview (Samhita.org)
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a 'better normal'. The
better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral
aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre
of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from
individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and
enabling the market.
To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of
the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth
knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome-oriented social impact
initiatives.
This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business
responsibility strategies that balance people, pro- t and planet, thereby creating a
better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Role Overview
The role sits within the Financial Innovation team, which is responsible for all
financial products like returnable grants, credit guarantee backed loans, pre credit
scores and other behavioural scores that Samhita will create/manage in collaboration
with its partners, to help micro, nano and solo entrepreneurs get access to capital
and increase their incomes.
This role will involve hypothesis testing, statistical modelling using logistic regression
and other ML techniques to design, build, validate and maintain behavioural scores
such as the Pre-Credit Score and the Human Capital Score.
Apart from building and managing scores, this role will also involve other standard
and ad-hoc analyses of the customer and partner data for insights with regards to
operational efficiency and effectiveness of programs and interventions. Storytelling in
the form of dashboarding will be necessary to present insights.
In order to perform the above-mentioned functions, the person will need to closely
liaise with internal stakeholders such as the Implementation team, Technology team
etc. and also with external stakeholders like alliance partners.
The role is integral for the organisation’s REVIVE Alliance, through which we hope to
reach out to 10 million individuals in the next 5 years.
Role Brief:
Use of statistical modelling techniques such as logistic regression and ML techniques
like XGB, Random Forest as needed to build behavioural scores
Research to find the optimal solution for a given use case, keeping in mind
operationalisation and explainability requirements
Hypothesis testing, scenario analysis, finding correlations in data, and other standard
and ad-hoc analyses to uncover drivers of program effectiveness and operational
efficiencies and thereby help drive a culture of data driven decision making in the
organisation
Collaboration with internal Samhita-CGF and clients/partners for data collection
Streamlining and consolidating data in a format that can be easily used for reporting
Responsible for reviewing the data for anomalies/inconsistencies
Communicating with the internal teams on regular intervals for data requirements and
changes
Critical thinking to challenge norms, and strive for continuous improvements in data
products and processes
Troubleshooting data related queries
Skills Required
BA/BSc. Degree in Computer Science, Decision Sciences, Data Science, Data
Analysis or related field
2-4 years of relevant experience
Experience with R/Python
Experience with SQL databases
Proficiency in MS Office Word, Access, Excel
Knowledge of Microsoft BI and Tableau will be an advantage but not essential
Problem solving mindset and being open to working in an agile environment
Basic knowledge and understanding of information collection, analysis, distribution
systems and modern database systems or ability to adapt
Problem solving, time management, interpersonal and critical thinking skills
Team player and self-starter
Work Location: Mumbai/Delhi
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead
cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work
alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a
positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals
who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been
strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and
foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller
Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance
Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex
challenges.
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Organisation Overview (Samhita.org)
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a ‘better normal’. The better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and enabling the market. To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome-oriented social impact initiatives. This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business responsibility strategies that balance people, profit and planet, thereby creating a better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Role Brief:
The incumbent is expected to screen and implement financial inclusion projects and partnerships.
S/he is expected to build partnerships and collaborations and in the process identify the right partners for implementation.
The role will focus on providing technical guidance to Samhita teams engaged in partnerships with financial service providers for successful deployment of projects.
The incumbent along with team members will train financial service providers and other key stakeholders in the industry about the financial needs of beneficiaries by organizing workshops and focus groups.
Perform other related duties as required.
Roles & Responsibilities
To drive a robust financial inclusion service offer
Spearhead Operation sales & collection of returnable grants
Handling Micro-Finance lending Business
Identifying and quantifying credit risks, implement measures to minimize risks to ensure an objective view & decision on credit request & credit exposure.
Tracking grant applications.
Optimizing the grant administration process.
Maintain a positive, constructive, and co-creative relationship with stakeholders and partners as well as contributing to growing such network.
Conducting Scenario Analysis based on macro and micro factors that will help in accessing risk.
Ensuring accurate modelling of allocated portfolios and developing new transaction models and enhancing the existing models.
Recommending and Implementing process for improvements to programs and prepare forecast.
Identifying the key financial and non-financial risks, recommending actions for mitigation of those risks.
Applying appropriate sensitivity and scenario analysis to support investment actions.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience
8+ years of experience in designing and managing development programs, technical experience in financial services.
Business development and strategy expertise in managing financial products.
Experience of working with NBFCs, research institutes, banks or consulting firms is a must.
Excellent knowledge & experience on preparation of high quality power point presentations, excel based financial modelling & analysis.
Exceptional analytical and conceptual thinking skills.
The ability to influence stakeholders and work closely with them to determine acceptable solutions.
Excellent documentation skills.
A history of leading and supporting successful projects.
Strong customer service orientation.
Logical and efficient, with keen attention to detail.
MA/MS Degree in business, finance, banking or economics or related field or equivalent training and experience.
Based out of: Mumbai/Pune/Ahmedabad
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.
How to apply: Forward your LinkedIn page or CV to careers@dev.samhita.org, you can also apply on our careers page.
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a ‘better normal’. The better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and enabling the market.
To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome-oriented social impact initiatives. This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business responsibility strategies that balance people, profit and planet, thereby creating a better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Job Responsibility: –
Day to day accounting in Tally. ERP
Maintain accurate and up to date financial records, including accounts payable and receivable
Process invoices, expense claims and ensure timely payments to vendors & service providers
Handling bank correspondences
Reconcile bank statements and monitor cash flow to ensure financial stability
Assist in preparing budgets, financial reports and other financial documents, as required
Support Statutory Audit of the organization
Knowledge of TDS, GST etc.
Knowledge if filing TDS return etc
Knowledge online banking
Ability to work to deadlines
Ability to work independently and as a part of a team
Qualifications, Skills & Experience:
2+ years of experience – Daily accounting, financial statements, Tally ERP, Finances, Advance Excel, Accounting management, Balance Sheet, Auditing, Team Management
Graduate in Accounting, Finance or relevant Field
Strong Interpersonal and presentation skills
Work Location: Mumbai (Work from Office)
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.
How to apply: Forward your LinkedIn page or CV to careers@dev.samhita.org, you can also apply on our careers page.
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Organisation Overview
Samhita is a social impact consulting firm, with a vision to build a ‘better normal’. The better normal reimagines business environments where social value is an integral aspect of growth, putting stakeholders and environmental guardianship at the centre of business strategy, a strategy that evolves from inputs to outcomes, from individuals to ecosystem, and from delivering services to building capacity and enabling the market.
To do this, we support companies to align their core competencies with the needs of the social sector, and build catalytic partnerships with stakeholders with in-depth knowledge and networks to execute sustainable, outcome oriented social impact initiatives. This approach bridges the gap between purpose and action, and forges business responsibility strategies that balance people, profit and planet, thereby creating a better normal for communities, environments and businesses.
Role Brief:
We are looking for an organised, detail-oriented individual to join our growing Technology team as a project manager. The responsibilities of the project manager include overseeing software projects from start to finish, engaging with software developers and avoiding blockers in the projects. You will play a critical role in advancing the technology capability and effectiveness of the tech strategy to meet the organisation’s targets. To achieve success you will be required to support and forge a partnership with all cross functional teams like MEL(Monitoring and Evaluation) team, Implementation team, Funder Engagement team, software developers and other functions across the company. You would have to reinforce and improve upon existing project and program methodologies that meet organisational objectives, while creating value for all parties. You should have a good working knowledge of WBS, gantt charts, kanban, scrum, project estimation techniques, and roadmapping. Ultimately, as a top-notch software project manager you should have good communication skills, decision-making skills and the ability to motivate others.
Roles & Responsibilities
Work closely with Business Analysts and Data Engineers to plan out the blueprints of software projects, including scope, resources, deadlines, communication strategies, tests and maintenance.
Work closely with internal and external team members to drive, support and identify bottlenecks in data insertion in the software applications and the technology built around the applications.
Participate in and supervise each stage of the project.
Discuss projects and its parameters with clients, executives, and software developers.
Ensure each project stays on schedule and adheres to the deadlines and scope.
Contribute in project budgeting and ensure the project adheres to the budget as closely as possible.
Meet budgetary objectives and make adjustments to project constraints based on financial analysis.
Determine and oversee development, testing, evaluation, and troubleshooting of all software products in all stages of completion.
Track milestones, deliverables, and change requests.
Serve as a liaison to communicate changes, milestones, deviation, updates, and other pertinent information.
Coordinate with internal resources and third parties/vendors for the flawless execution of projects.
Develop detailed project plans and project roadmap across several connected projects to monitor and track progress.
Communicate progress against deliverables.
Manage changes to the project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques
Measure project performance using appropriate techniques like WBS, gantt charts, kanban, scrum, project estimation and roadmapping.
Perform risk management to minimise project risks using adequate Project Management RBS techniques.
Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation.
Develop detailed execution plans and track performance against overall project deliverables.
Qualifications, Skills & Experience
Proficiency in project management software tools like MS Project, Primavera, JIRA, Clickup, Trello and so on.
Minimum of 5 years of IT project management experience or Software Development Lifecycle management Experience.
Project management certifications like Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), Prince 2, Scrum Master, Six Sigma
Excellent decision-making and leadership skills with contract negotiation skills, conflict resolution experience and most importantly adaptability
Based out of: Mumbai/Delhi
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges. How to apply: Forward your LinkedIn page or CV to careers@dev.samhita.org, you can also apply on our careers page.
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Organisation Overview
At Samhita, we work to address the most wicked socio-economic problems in India and leverage our strengths, experience, and knowledge to fulfil our vision. We work with multiple stakeholders to curate strategic partnerships that have the potential to create impact at scale. Through the power of collaboration, innovation, and evidence, we aim to create a sustainable and equitable future for all i.e. a better normal for all.
Samhita is a Mission driven Organisation with a young, bright, passionate, committed and exceptionally inspiring team. We believe that great companies are built by great teams. This philosophy is at the heart of our vision for the organisation we want to scale over the next decade. A company with people at its core, where people are the biggest differentiators. If you are looking for an organization that truly cares about people while bringing the best of class innovation into CSR – Samhita is the place for you. We solve problems through collective action.
Role Overview:
Looking for a manager proficient in working with implementation partners (NGOs & social enterprises), experienced in need identification, program concept creation and delivering end to end execution of projects (preferably Education, Health , Women Empowerment programs). They should have knowledge on monitoring, evaluation & reporting of the projects.
Work Location: Mumbai
Job Description
Work on end to end program management – Strategy design, implementation and program monitoring for projects related to Education, Health , Women Empowerment programs
Preparing customized proposals per the requirement of the corporates/grant giving agencies
Conduct prospect research to identify, cultivate and solicit new project implementation partners
Invite and provide evidence-based feedback in a timely and constructive manner.
Independently manage external stakeholder conversations with corporates as well as implementation partners
Work with existing processes/systems whilst making constructive suggestions for improvements.
Work on based data and analysis for program management and insights.
Follow risk management and compliance procedures.
Communicate confidently in a clear, concise and articulate manner – verbally and in written form.
Seek opportunities to learn about other cultures and other parts of the business across the service lines of Samhita.
Uphold the firm’s code of ethics and business conduct
Support the interns and volunteers for field research, survey and developing information on Samhita Verticals.
Proficiency in handling data on spreadsheets is preferre
Qualifications, Skills & Experience
7+ years of experience of having worked in the development sector
Experience in preferably Education, Health , Women Empowerment programs related program implementation, operations and/or management. Exposure to skilling profile will be added advantage.
Ability to structure projects/engagements for the team
Demonstrated success of developing and evaluating program models, NGOs, and operationalizing programs.
Experience in Education, Health , Women Empowerment programs policy making/ conceptualizing & implementing the programs will be preferred
Experience of engaging with International clients and working in onsite-offshore environment
Ability to contribute beyond the defined scope of work
Demonstrated experience of contributing in firm and knowledge building
Candidate with medical and business degrees are encouraged to apply as well
Why Samhita?
Make a big difference: Take, own and implement.
Leadership: This is the perfect opportunity to go beyond traditional roles and lead cutting-edge management and research strategies. The candidate shall work alongside the brightest minds, in an environment that fosters growth and creativity
Impact: Working with Samhita will provide you with an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of millions – doing well by doing well
Work Culture: Samhita has a team of young, hard-working, and dynamic individuals who strive for excellence while maintaining a humble outlook. Our work has been strengthened and supported by international and domestic donor agencies and foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Tata Trusts, GIZ, DFID, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, UNDP and the Power of Nutrition.
Learning: Increase your problem-solving capabilities by delving into complex challenges.
How to apply: Forward your LinkedIn page or CV to careers@dev.samhita.org.
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Are you passionate about turning around an organisation which is working with people having Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (NDD)?
FAME India is a not-for-profit organisation set up in 2001, to enable and empower persons with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their caregivers to lead a meaningful life. FAME India (FI) focuses on building and maintaining skills of persons with neuro-developmental disabilities through early intervention; holistic education program which includes in house therapists, special educators, and counsellors. The team delivers continuous, high-quality engagement in the areas of daily living, life skills, vocational skills, social inclusion, recreation, health, safety, and complete well-being for every individual (beneficiaries & caregivers) in our community. FI is entering a new phase of renewal and reorganisation and is looking for a resourceful manager in the Managing Trustee’s office.
Job Description
The primary job of the Manager – Administration is to drive the effectiveness of the organization and its strategic decisions. This role requires planning, senior-level hiring, coordinating, and managing diverse stakeholders (internal and external) with the ability to negotiate and resolve on-ground challenges. Ability to assess enquiries/actions directed to the MT, to organize, prioritize, and delegate – is essential.
Use Email Subject as “Application for Job: General Manager, Office of the Managing Trustee”.
Attach a covering note for why you want to take up this role.
Indicate your salary expectation.
Job requirement: Immediate, On-site
Job location:Bangalore
Nature of employment:Mid-Senior Level, Full-time, Contract – 1 year (Can be extended after review)
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Project: Urban Health Initiative
Location: Mumbai/ Bangalore (preferred); or Work-from-home
About the Project
Collective Good Foundation (CGF) (https://collectivegood.in/about-us/) is dedicated to developing ecosystems that facilitate sustainable impact. It provides comprehensive programme design and implementation solutions to companies and social organizations to address issues across cause areas; enhancing capacities in the development sector and building interventions that can be scaled. Driving solutions that impact the economic climate and behavioral influences of a young nation, in association with a network of stakeholders, CGF intends to create positive social value. Its strong investments in knowledge, research, and a unique cutting-edge technology tool, enables corporate partners, foundations, and implementation agencies to develop informed solutions that can build a sustainable future for the nation as a whole.
Collective Good Foundation currently houses the Urban Health Initiative, an Initiative which adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to address health and related issues of people living in urban areas, with a focus on the urban poor and vulnerable populations. The Urban Health Initiative intends to bring together urban practitioners, public health experts, donor agencies, government stakeholders and non-profit organisations to develop a convergent, longitudinal and preventive approach to primary healthcare in India. It minimizes duplication of efforts, and captures, contextualizes and replicates best practices while fostering innovation.
About the Role
The Collective Good Foundation (CGF) intends to recruit a Senior Associate – Climate Action for the Urban Health Initiative. The Senior Associate will play a critical role in shaping the overall strategy of the Urban Health Initiative, bringing in a climate change and environmental sustainability perspective to design health interventions for the urban population. The selected candidate will contribute towards program design and capacity building exercises of internal and external stakeholders to strengthen climate action planning and execution. Therefore, it is important that the selected candidate has:
Solid grounding in technical aspects of environment and climate change, with knowledge of contemporary tools, frameworks and assessment methodologies.
Excellent understanding of the climate landscape in the India; including relevant policy initiatives gaps in climate action, knowledge of stakeholders, networks and organisations working in this space.
Ability to filter relevant information and present the same in a coherent and articulate manner in the overall context of urban health.
Overall, we are looking for an energetic, committed and passionate young professional, who is driven and self-motivated, and can work under minimal supervision. Since co-ordination with multiple internal and external stakeholders is required, it is important that the selected candidate is familiar, adept and comfortable working with a diverse group of people.
Key Functionsand Responsibilities
Provide technical inputs on climate action and health, and contribute to the development of the overall strategy and program design
Assist in the conceptualization, design and execution of landscape analysis, thematic studies, needs assessments, research projects and rapid assessments for climate action in health.
Organise and coordinate multi-stakeholder dialogues, seminars, roundtables and workshops to identify gaps and opportunities in the urban health space, prioritise research questions, exchange knowledge and disseminate the ongoing work of the Urban Health Initiative.
Contribute to the ideation, review, and proposal writing for ongoing and future projects.
Stay updated on the policy landscape, sectoral developments, and industry trends in relation to climate action and health in India.
Coordinate with internal and external team members, as required.
Perform any other tasks and responsibilities as may be required from time to time.
Educational Qualification and Professional Experience
Post graduate degree in a relevant discipline such as climate change and health, environment and development, environmental change and management, environmental economics and climate change, environmental policy, etc.
4-5 years of relevant experience in one or more of the following: climate action for health, organizing capacity building initiatives for climate action, stakeholder engagement for climate action, conducting workshops and stakeholder consultations for climate action (Priority will be given to candidates with a prior experience of working at the intersection of health and climate change)
Necessary Skillset
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with prior writing experience demonstrated through published papers and journal articles
Familiarity with public data sources related to environment and climate; and demonstrated proficiency in quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
Knowledge of systems thinking and systems mapping; and ability integrate climate action into different interventions and activities
Strong presentation, problem solving and analytical skills.
Intellectual curiosity and thirst for learning
Proactive, ability to self-motivate and work under minimal supervision.
Proficient in Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Word.
Interested candidates may reach out to: careers@dev.samhita.org
Remuneration: Competitive; based on past experiences and qualifications.
