Impact India

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 

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 

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

By Pakzan Dastoor

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

By Nitya Daryanani

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

By Radhika Nayar

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

By Louis C. Boorstin

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