#LivingMyPromise

Can we continue to find purpose in life after retirement? How can one plan for their financial security while giving away more than 50% for philanthropy. How can a Rotarian make even bigger impact?
 

T V Srinivasan is a retired corporate professional, currently coaches senior executives and is a community service volunteer. Having worked for 35+ years in the corporate sector in Japan and other southeast Asian countries, Srinivasan is actively involved in community service through Rotary club, where he is a member and also involved in various philanthropic activities.
 

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In this live interview with Rahul Bose hear from him about his journey from being a movie actor to his foray into social activism on climate change, child sexual abuse, discrimination, and his decision to pledge 50% of his wealth towards philanthropic causes by signing up to the #LivingMyPromise initiative.

About Rahul Bose
He is not only well-recognized as an actor and director but he is also a social activist and a rugby player. He has lectured on leadership, gender justice, and cinema at several Ivy League institutions. He has not only founded two NGOs: The Foundation, dedicated to the equalization of opportunity through education and HEAL, working to prevent child sexual abuse but has also signed up to the #LivingMyPromise initiative and pledged to donate more than 50% of his wealth towards philanthropic causes.

Why does the world need a kindness movement? Why isn't kindness a natural phenomenon amongst ourselves? How can one balance self-interest with the greater good of society? How can we trigger or spread Karuna and Kindness in our society? How can we start looking beyond our self-interests?
 

Nirmala Peters Mehendale is a founding trustee at Kindness Unlimited & President of the World Kindness Movement. She has pledged to donate 50% of her wealth towards philanthropic causes she believes in. She has over three decades of experience in building and implementing HR systems and processes both as a practicing manager & HR Consultant/Advisor.

What are the challenges of fundraising for nonprofits? How has COVID affected the ability of organisations in fundraising? How has crowdfunding changed the landscape of fundraising? How has crowdfunding enabled more givers in our society? What can we do to get people to give back more generously? What are some of the success stories of crowdfunding in India?
 

Chet Jainn is a serial entrepreneur & #LivingMyPromise signatory. He is the founder at Crowdera, a platform in the social good crowdfunding and nonprofit fundraising space, he is also founder at Thrive5 is a startup accelerator program. Chet has started as a teen entrepreneur at 19 and continued multiple entrepreneurial stints since then.

Ever wondered how to tick off all those items on your bucket list? Hear from the man who took part in 18 Marathons, travelled 120 countries covering 7 continents so far and yet has one important item on his bucket list, to give away 50% of his wealth towards philanthropic causes. 

Shridhar Sethuram is Private Equity Investor with diverse Board & CEO experience, he is an avid traveller and has covered 120 countries across all 7 continents and has visited some of the remotest corners of the globe. Shridhar is an IIM-Ahmedabad alumn and has pledged to donate more than 50% of his wealth for philanthropic causes. Shridhar is a #LivingMyPromise signatory. 

Meenakshi Gupta was the News Publicity Head at BBC South Asia, she later joined Goonj full time after ending her 15-year corporate career. Anshu Gupta is Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and founder at Goonj while his wife Meenakshi Gupta is the co-founder. Anshu is an Ashoka fellow and was conferred with "Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award" by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. Anshu and Meenakshi pledged to donate more than 50% of their wealth towards philanthropic causes.

Both Meenakshi and Anshu are #LivingMyPromise signatories

How inclusive is our workforce? What are the challenges in employing people with disabilities? What role can philanthropy play in empowering people with disabilities? How has COVID impacted people with disabilities?

Meera Shenoy is Founder Youth4Jobs, helping companies have an "inclusive" workforce and Founder at Not Just Art, a digital platform created to support visual artists with disabilities. A #LivingMyPromise signatory, she was earlier ED, EGMM, India's first state Govt. skilling mission for rural and tribal youth for Govt of Andhra Pradesh which she took to scale influencing policy. She has consulted for the World Bank and the UN across Southeast Asia.

What motivates someone to give away more than 50% of their family's wealth for philanthropic causes? What or who is the source of their inspiration? What are some of the goals that he and his family want to achieve through their philanthropic mission? Why did they decide to take this public pledge announcing their decision to 50% of their net worth?

Parag has been a Corporate executive for more than 30 years. He is a chartered accountant, and has worked with various MNCs including Unilever, GSK. For the last 10 he has been with Reckitt Benckiser, a British MNC operating in Health & hygiene – of these 10 years, 8 years have been outside India, and currently Parag is based in London as CFO-Health. Parag is also a co-founder and trustee in TapIndia Foundation, and in Ahimsa trust. He recently signed the Living my promise pledge.

How do we rebuild nonprofits, how do we ensure the financial sustainability of nonprofits during this economic crisis? How has the landscape of funders and donors changed in the last quarter? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages between various types of funders & donors? Should donors or board members of the nonprofits step up their own personal funding? What are some of the innovations in fundraising?

Sriram Venkataraman is Director - Partnerships and Engagements at The/Nudge Foundation. Listen to gain insights on fundraising learn about his own philanthropy mission and why he decided to pledge 50% of his net worth for philanthropy

What ails education in India? What does it take to change student-learning outcomes in India? What has been done and what more can be done to accelerate change in the education sector in India? What are the respective roles of government, for-profits and non-profits in this space? What is the role of philanthropy in overcoming the biggest challenges facing education in India?

Sridhar Rajagopalan is an educational entrepreneur and has strived to help change the way student-learning outcomes are seen in India. He is the co-founder and Chief Learning Officer of Educational Initiatives (EI) and an IIT-IIM alum. Sridhar is a member of various central and state government committees related to assessment and learning and has been or is a board member of organizations like Pratham Gujarat, Central Square Foundation, etc.
 

YOUR TIME OR YOUR MONEY - What does future look like for a career in social sector organizations? Will there be opportunities in the social sector that align with skills, experience from a corporate sector? Do social sector organizations offer challenging roles and competitive compensation or is it a trade-off? Is the work of social sector organisation, culture very different than working for a corporate?

Moomal Mehta, is founder at Crossover catalyst that provides solutions to the leadership needs of the social sector helping new-to-sector talent transition to social sector organizations.

Ever wondered interacting with an individual who is responsible for hiring some of the top CEOs and board members of leading companies in India? Join Facebook live with Govind Iyer, partner at Egon Zehnder and the man behind CEO succession, board effectiveness, non-executive director recruitment for several organisations in the country. 

Govind Iyer, is partner at Egon Zehnder, the man behind CEO succession and Board consulting for several organizations, he helps build business leadership teams and maximizes private equity investments for portfolio companies. Govind Iyer is a board member at some of India's leading philanthropy driven initiatives such as Social Venture Partners and Give India. 

STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY - What kind philanthropic models do we need in a complex changing world? How can we come up with models that fit the realities of creating unprecedented social change required in today's world? Should companies and individuals pursue philanthropic goals that align with their interests or should they pivot to address a global crisis?  

Priya Naik is founder and CEO at Samhita. Priya was a researcher at the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA.

Ever heard of a real story such as the following, children of families belonging to a community in Tamil Nadu play with a living rat as a substitute for toy. Balaji Sampath who is the founder at AID INDIA and #LivingMyPromise signatory has done some fabulous work on the ground and has several such awe-inspiring stories to share. He changed the lives of hundreds of children by providing actual toys for them to play with, initiated other programs such as building small pucca houses for the homeless, making education accessible to the underprivileged and others. Balaji Sampath has been actively participating in COVID relief efforts recently and has several learnings to share with us. 

CREATING KNOLWEDGE BANKS - The world is changing rapidly more than ever. Much of the progress has been possible, thanks to collective knowledge of human civilization. How can we share and re-use learnings while we connect knowledge bearers and users in this century? What has one to consider in creating a knowledge bank for solving social issues? 

Smarinita is co-founder and CEO at India Development Review and she is responsible for strategy, editorial direction and organizational growth at IDR.

What is the right time to have philanthropy as a life goal? Can philanthropy be a personal goal when you have young children and other family obligations? Is commitment to philanthropy simply a lifestyle choice or does it take courage and sacrifice to commit when you are still young? 
 

Archana Hari is working across multiple community projects to learn ground realities from people implementing social change on the ground and the leaders who have envisioned it. She has earlier worked with Give India in various roles. Hari Shyamsunder is VP & Senior Research Analyst at Franklin Templeton Investments. Both Archana and Hari have been signatories to #LivingMyPromise and pledged to donate more than 50% of their wealth towards philanthropic causes.

CREATING WILLS AND TRUSTS - Ever thought of giving back your hard earned money for society, plan to managing your wealth while you're alive, distributing your estate after your death, and a clear plan to pass on your legacy? Find out the legal mechanisms involved from Sandeep Nerlekar.

Sandeep Nerlekar is the Founder and Managing Director at Terentia Consultancy Pvt Ltd, he is an industry expert in the field of succession planning, estate planning, trust and trust management services.  
 

Luis Miranda is an investor, banker and a dot connector spending time with several non-profits. He is Chairman of CORO and Centre for Civil Society and Managing Trustee for Collective Good Foundation. Luis has been on the boards of several companies. Luis has switched almost full time from banking to philanthropy. He also writes for The Forbes and ThriveGlobal. Fiona has been a sexual health educator and director at various nonprofits. Fiona and Luis have supported initiatives related to public policy, women empowerment, livelihood & education. 

Fiona and Luis have been signatories to #LivingMyPromise and also give more than 50% of their time towards philanthropic causes

GUIDING YOUNG STARTUPS TO SCALE - What will it take to build a vibrant startup pool with the potential to leapfrog problem-solving? What are the biggest bottlenecks for highly committed and capable founders of nonprofits who will go on to solve problems in the development sector at large scale?

Sudha Srinivasan is the CEO at N/Core, an incubator & accelerator that enables early stage nonprofit startups to build highly impactful organizations by nudging and nurturing top talent to solve India's biggest challenges.

Bharati Dasgupta is the Co-Founder and Trustee at Catalysts for Social Action working on a mission to create a brighter future for children under institutional care. Bharati Dasgupta is a signatory to the #LivingMyPromise initiative.

How does someone from the streets break the cycle of poverty? How do they go on then to commit themselves to a life of service?

Encounter the hardships this person had to face to beat odds stacked against him. How he supported a visually impaired father and family, overcame everyday hunger and still continued education when he couldn't afford school fees, and when other children made fun of him because he wore torn chappals and uniform to school. How, he's gone on to become a doctor and dedicate himself to the service of humanity. And why he signed up for #LivingMyPromise, pledging to donate 50+% of his wealth to charity.

HOW TO BECOME AN ANGEL -  Startups are sexy and exciting but what does it take to help these start-ups that often face huge existential challenges despite brilliant ideas, especially in the social sector?

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Anshu Bhartia is the CEO at UnLtd India, a launchpad for early-stage social entrepreneurs in India, earlier she was CEO at The Revitalizing Rainfed Agriculture (RRAN) Network & Friends of WWB

IMPACT INVESTING - Vineet Rai is the founder chairman at Aavishkaar Group, chairman & co-founder at Intellicap. He is a pioneer at impact investing, managing assets worth above INR 8000 crore.

GAPS THAT ARE NOT BEING FUNDED - Ingrid Srinath is Director, Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy, she was previously CEO of CRY, Secretary General of CIVICUS and Board Member of WINGS besides several other organisations.

BUILDING A SOCIAL CAPITAL PORTFOLIO OR A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO GIVING - Having a structured approach to your giving or A social capital portfolio will help you plan, visualize, and align with your giving/living balance. This session will detail out steps to develop a conscious and planned approach to what, who, where and how you want to make an impact with your giving.

Deepa Varadarajan and Manisha Joshi are co-founders of Pramiti Philanthropy Partners.

Rushabh Turakhia is Owner at R. Kirti & Co that deals in Jewellery. He is the Founder and kindness ambassador at Your Turn Now. Rushabh Turakhia is a signatory to the #LivingMyPromise initiative

Yogesh Parmar is Founder & Director - GameChangers, India's first & only behavioral sciences led people development enterprise. Yogesh Parmar is a signatory to the #LivingMyPromise initiative 

HIERARCHY OF IMPACT - The 3 key anchors to Individual philanthropy and how they can guide your giving of the self, the poort and the system.

Rathish Balakrishnan is Cofounder and Managing Partner at Sattva Consulting 

Venkat Krishnan started his career with the media, working at the Times of India Group and the founding team at Sony Entertainment Television between 1993 and 1996. He cofounded Eklavya School in Ahmedabad till 1999. In 2000, he set up GiveIndia, which he ran till 2008. He also cofounded Educational Initiatves Pvt Ltd, which he exited in 2018. Venkat is a signatory to #LivingMyPromise and an active #DaanUtsav volunteer. He now spends 90+% of his time and money to promote volunteering & giving in India. Venkat graduated from IIMA in 1993.

Amit Chandra is Chairman, Bain Capital India. The A.T.E. Chandra Foundation anchors the philanthropic giving of Chandra Family. Archana Chandra is the CEO of Jai Vakeel Foundation & Research Centre, serving intellectually challenged children. Amit & Archana are LivingMyPromise signatories and have pledged to donate more than 50% of their net worth towards philanthropic causes. 

Ujwal Thakar is a board member at Educate Girls, Ummeed child development centre, Arogya World and Shoshit Sewa Kendra and is an incubating mentor for the Indian School of Democracy. He is partner at N/Core and was earlier the CEO at Pratham. Usha & Ujwal Thakar are signatories to the #LivingMyPromise initiative.