The rise of India’s reputation as a center of technology innovation has in recent years been matched by the country’s growing reputation as a hub of social innovation, and now Indians living abroad are rising as a force for philanthropy in their country of origin. In light of this, The Bridgespan Group, Dasra, and Stanford Social Innovation Review have joined forces to create and publish Impact India, a magazine for philanthropists and social innovators targeting India.
Features
Philanthropy & Funding
Giving Back to India
By Rohit Menezes, Sonali Madia Patel, & Daniel Pike 1
Indian Americans are donating more than ever before to support broad-based social change aimed at reducing India’s inequities.
Business
Partnering With Women at the Grassroots Level
By Marissa Wesely & Dina Dublon
Initiatives to develop the economic potential of women are becoming a staple of corporate activity.
Water & Sanitation
Troubled Water
By Eric Nee
One of India’s largest, and most intractable, challenges is providing clean water to all of its 1.2 billion citizens.
Health
Lessons for Creating Better Global Health Programs
By Lyn Denend & Amy Lockwood, with Michele Barry & Stefanos Zenios
Efforts to bring promising health care interventions to resource-constrained regions of the world often falter because entrepreneurs underestimate the array of obstacles that loom in their path.
Impact Investing
Philanthropy’s New Frontier—Impact Investing
By Michael Etzel 3
Philanthropists should become more active impact investors, focusing on building sustainable social enterprises often overlooked by private investors who seek market-rate returns.
Spotlight on Girls
Education
Meeting the Challenge of Educating Girls
Educate Girls is helping more than one million Indian schoolchildren.
Philanthropy & Funding
Empowering India’s Girls
By Rachita Vora
Sometimes collaboration is the most direct route to impact.
Water & Sanitation
Improving Sanitation for Adolescent Girls
The lack of toilets in India has a disproportionate impact on adolescent girls.
Q & A
Philanthropy & Funding
Q&A With Ram Shriram
By Radhika Nayar
Silicon Valley insider Ram Shriram is focusing a great deal of time, money, and energy on helping innovative NGOs improve K–12 education in India.
Philanthropy & Funding
Q&A With Desh Desphande
By Katie Smith Milway & Jeff Bradach
Serial technology entrepreneur Desh Deshpande is taking innovation techniques created at MIT and using them to solve social problems in India.
Case Study
Magic Bus
Magic Bus is helping change the lives of Indian children living in poverty through a highly-scalable activity-based learning program.
Education
Akshaya Patra
By Brandon Keim
Technical ingenuity and private funding enable Akshaya Patra to serve hot, healthy lunches to 1.4 million Indian children every day.
Viewpoint
Water & Sanitation
Do It the Hard Way
By Eric Stowe
To ensure that its clean-water initiatives will stick and grow, Splash works with local partners that will take over when it moves on.
Health
Outsized Outcomes
By Priya Jha
With a sustainable program structure, skilled advocacy, and targeted technical assistance, Evidence Action helped pull off the world’s largest one-day deworming event.
Scaling
Scaling Up Impact
An effort to improve sanitation in developing countries yields lessons in how to achieve enduring, broad-based social impact.
By the Numbers
Philanthropy & Funding
Indian Philanthropy: By the Numbers
By Impact India Editors
Indians are giving more time and more money to charitable causes in