Next-Generation Philanthropy and CSR: The Future of Giving in India
VIEW EVENT DETAILSFriday, 2nd December, 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. IST
This is an invite-only programme as part of the Reimagining Indian CSR series hosted by Asia Society India Centre in partnership with Bloomberg.
India has committed to achieving its Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and its net-zero emissions target by 2070. In a socially complex country like India, the public and private sectors must work together to ensure the success of these ambitious and necessary goals. As per the ‘India Philanthropy Report 2021’ prepared by Bain & Company and Dasra, in the fiscal year 2020, private-sector funding totalled about INR 64,000 crore—close to 23% more than in the fiscal year 2019 signalling the growth in philanthropy in India.
Today, a younger generation of philanthropists and business leaders are spearheading many innovative and new models of ‘giving’, beyond charitable funding. This includes second-and-third-generation members of prominent business families and CSR professionals. Their focus is on building infrastructures for social good alongside profit-making. Philanthropic giving and for-profit investments are no longer seen as separate passion pursuits.
While ‘Next Gen’ or ‘Now Gen’ philanthropists don multiple hats —funders, social investors and mentors, their counterparts leading CSR initiatives in big corporates are actively seeking to drive social change through their organizations. This new trend of active and engaged philanthropy aims to shape social change beyond funding and even strives to work as stakeholders with government and global organisations.
The new trend to philanthropy is definitely encouraging but gaps within the social sector persist & need to be addressed. For instance, education and health continue to attract sizeable funding while art and culture, animal welfare, and women’s empowerment still receive negligible philanthropic attention. Similarly, the distribution of philanthropic investments is not uniform across the diverse states and districts of India. As per a 2022 report by Invest India, higher industrialized states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have received more than 30 per cent of the total CSR spending since 2015. In comparison, states with poor socio-economic indicators, like Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have received only 9 per cent in the same time period.
Parallelly, businesses that are ‘doing good’ and ‘giving back’ over others are being recognized as desirable by consumers the world over. Consumers are growing to favour companies that support ethical practices and contribute to social good. Apart from quality products and commercial expertise, the need for corporates – and, by extension, corporate philanthropists -- to understand political and social movements is well-established.
How do next-generation philanthropists see their family’s entrepreneurial experience and legacy? How has the CSR landscape shifted with the new gen taking charge? What are their priorities and concerns as they channelize resources into specific sectors? How are their key drivers and incentives for giving different? What, if any, are the challenges they face?
On the December 2nd of 2022 as we host a discussion around new and innovative models of giving by the next generation of philanthropists and younger CSR leaders with Raj Mariwala, Director, Mariwala Health Initiative; Trishya Screwvala, Founder/Director of Raindancer; Priya Naik, Founder and CEO of Samhita; Vandana Goyal, Managing Trustee and co-CEO at Avanti Fellows; and moderator Deval Sanghavi, Co-Founder and Partner at Dasra.
Note: This is an invite-only programme
Raj Mariwala is Director, Mariwala Health Initiative, an advocacy, capacity building and grant making organisation focusing on accessible mental health for marginalised communities. Raj’s previous work experience includes livelihood-related work at Mercy Corps International with refugees, immigrants and low-income Americans. The standpoint of lived experience informs Raj's approach to philanthropy, mental health and social justice which lies at the intersection of feminist, queer-trans and mad studies. Raj is editor of MHI's annual journal ReFrame which challenges existing norms and explores diverse voices within the mental health space. In the past, Raj has served on the Advisory Board of the Global Mental Health Action Network, a global joint advocacy, communications, and learning coalition on mental health as well as on the Advisory Board for the Lancet Commission on Stigma and Discrimination. Under Raj's leadership, MHI launched the Alliance for Suicide Prevention (ASP), that brings together stakeholders, including policymakers, practitioners, researchers and funders, to work collaboratively to prevent suicide. Currently, Raj is also a board member of Parcham, a not for profit that works with young marginalised women. Raj is also a practicing canine and feline behaviourist.
Priya Naik is the Founder and CEO of Samhita, a social sector consulting firm that collaborates with companies, government and social organizations to co-create and implement impactful initiatives. Samhita has impacted 10 million individuals in partnership with 250+ companies and donor agencies and 500+ partners. At Samhita, Priya is focused on co-creating multi-stakeholder initiatives such as Revive, a blended finance facility and livelihood accelerator which aims to irreversibly increase incomes of 10 million workers and micro-entrepreneurs as well as the India Protectors Alliance which has impacted 5.3 million Indians in partnership with 58 funders and 53 partners. Previously, Priya co-founded The Spark Group, an education incubator that delivered affordable education to low-income communities in India. She has worked with the International Finance Corporation, the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at Arthur Andersen.
Vandana Goyal is the Managing Trustee at Avanti Fellows, leading all operations and fundraising strategies. In addition to her work at Avanti, Vandana is a Board Member and former Chief Executive Officer of the Akanksha Foundation. In her capacity as CEO at Akanksha Foundation, she led a team to serve 21 schools with an aim to educate 9,300 children in India. Vandana graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a degree in Economics.
Trishya Screwvala is Founder/ Director of Raindancer, a not-for-profit organization that aims to inspire urban Indian youth to affect change by generating awareness and creating platforms for sustained volunteering. She has started one of India’s first mentoring programs which connects educated youngsters with children from under resourced communities through one-on-one mentoring, with the aim of developing their life skills, social skills and exposing them to a world outside of their community that is within their reach. She is a trustee of The Swades Foundation, which is committed to rural empowerment through several interventions in water, health, agriculture, livelihood and education. Passionate about volunteering, both within and outside of the social sector, Trishya is also an active volunteer and member of New Acropolis (India), an international organisation dedicated to philosophy, culture and volunteering.
Deval Sanghavi co-founded Dasra, a leading catalytic philanthropy foundation that fosters trust-based relationships between funders and NGOs to achieve the vision of a transformed India where a billion thrive with dignity and equity. Since the organization’s inception in 1999, he has provided multiple Indian and global families and corporations (such as Godrej, Bank of America, HSBC, Forbes Marshall) with catalytic funding strategies and supported numerous NGO leaders to scale and deepen their impact while keeping vulnerable lives at the center. He also serves on the board of Magic Bus, Industree, SRCC Children's Hospital and SEVA Mandir. Dasra applies a methodology of gaining a deep understanding of the root cause of an issue, which has led to 80+ published research reports on various sectors, including the India Philanthropy Report 2022 which provides comprehensive data and insights on India’s giving landscape comprising of CSR, Retail and Family Philanthropists over the last few years.