Amit Chandra, Chairman at Bain Capital India, is a leading Indian philanthropist and a founder/board member of Ashoka University and a board member of Give India and The Akanksha Foundation, among his other associations with non-profits and foundations. Archana Chandra is the CEO of Jai Vakeel Foundation & Research Centre, one of the largest NGOs serving intellectually challenged children. The Chandras featured in the Forbes ‘Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy’ list in 2016.

ILSS, incubated by the Ashish Dhawan-founded Central Square Foundation in September 2017, specifically focuses on enabling senior corporate executives to transition to the social sector in order to enhance the diversity of talent and skills in the sector.

“ILSS currently offers a pioneering nine-day leadership program for leaders from various backgrounds, particularly from corporates, who are looking for careers with social purpose. We also offer post-program support in terms of placement, mentoring and coaching  as our alumni embark on their journey to the social sector,” says Anu Prasad, founder of ILSS.  “The grant from A.T.E. Chandra Foundation will allow us to invest in our organisational capacity which, in turn, will  help us strengthen our program and post-program offering and build a strong pipeline of change leaders.”

“The A.T.E. Chandra Foundation is privileged to support ILSS, given its focus on enabling high quality talent movement from the corporate world into the social sector is core to our own focus of capacity building in it,” says Amit Chandra, Chairman of Bain Capital’s India office. 

ATECF supports various projects and initiatives in two core verticals: rural transformation and sector capacity building. The Foundation works closely with leading Indian and global players in the social sector to create a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable society. The grant for ILSS is in line with the Foundation’s ‘systemic capacity building’ efforts to help create leaders for the social sector.

ILSS has so far conducted five editions of its nine-day leadership program, with 85 leaders from areas such as media, banking, fintech, advertising and telecom, and companies such as IBM, Standard Chartered Bank, American Express, Tata group, Airtel and Star TV participating in the residential program held at Ashoka University. ILSS alumni are today in leadership roles in leading organisations such as Public Health Foundation of India, Kaivalya Education Foundation, Educate Girls, Ashoka University, and Central Square Foundation.

About Amit Chandra:   Amit Chandra joined Bain Capital as Managing Director in early 2008 and is part of the company’s leadership team in Asia. He is the founder of Bain’s Mumbai office and is currently Chairman of the company’s India office.

He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007. He is or has been associated as a Trustee of the Tata Trusts, as a Founder/Board Member of Ashoka University, a Board Member of Give India (India’s leading philanthropic exchange) and The Akanksha Foundation. He also a Member of the Advisory Boards of Bridgespan in India, the Centre for Social Impact & Philanthropy, and Swades Foundation.

Prior to joining Bain Capital, Amit spent most of his professional career at DSP Merrill Lynch, a leading investment bank in India. At the firm, he had direct oversight of its Global Markets & Investment Banking business, which included the firm’s substantial principal investment businesses. He retired from DSP Merrill Lynch in 2007 as its Board Member & Managing Director, to move to Private Equity.

He received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from VJTI, Bombay University, post which he worked at India’s leading engineering & construction firm, Larsen & Toubro. He then received his MBA from Boston College and was awarded the school’s Distinguished Alumni in 2007.

About Archana Chandra: Archana Chandra is the CEO of Jai Vakeel Foundation & Research Centre, which is one of the largest NGOs serving intellectually challenged children. She serves as the Trustee of SRCC, which in collaboration with NH, has built one of the largest paediatric hospitals in the country. She is also on the Advisory Board of Annamrita (part of the ISKCON Food Relief Foundation) and Antarang Foundation.

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This is about the inward journey of a person who grew up in a moderately conservative lower middle-class family, knew nothing better than to treat academics as the reason to live until “settling” in a job in the corporate world. A person who, despite being insulated from the real world, dabbled in some individual and corporate social responsibility to “give back” to society in a rather egoistical way. And how one fine summer, a “nine-day program” turned out to be a journey as profound as traversing the nine layers of Earth right through to the inner core. This is about me, and the shades of me in each one of you.

I sometimes wonder how, in our pursuit of that elusive ‘cosy corner’ in life, we keep getting disconnected from everything natural in and around us, only to walk back to the same fork in the path where we parted from our true selves. Sooner or later, everyone reaches a point when one asks: “What is the purpose of my life?”

Last summer, I found myself at a juncture in my life when I had “retired” from an overall satisfying corporate career with a rich chest of experiences and learnings. I tried my hand at a venture with a social angle and was learning a great deal from it. However, I realised that I had only touched the tip of the iceberg called the development sector. I wanted to learn more. The student in me got curious.  That’s when India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS) happened.

The journey, not the destination

ILSS turned out to be a life-changing experience. It is unbelievable how nine days can impact a person so deeply and how people can get transformed, if they go with an open mind, ready to unlearn and learn at the same time. It also showed me how the world that I had imagined needs us, is not even a fraction of the world that actually needs us.

The program has been envisioned, designed and implemented as a fast, action-packed ride into the development sector. The great line-up of speakers—experts from various fields —are truly invested in imparting as much wisdom as possible in the limited time available. The diversity of the cohort makes the experience interesting and enriching. The fact that the cohort is intentionally kept small, allows deeper interactions, while the “immersive learning” design enables participants to be unpretentious and uninhibited, understand everyone’s perspective, respect and accept each other for life. 

A big highlight of the program was the day-long field visit, where we experienced various aspects of the development sector first-hand. It was yet another reminder that it is not just the end goal but the journey that matters, and every small step makes a difference.

At the Ashoka University campus—with its sports complex, gym, running and walking tracks, library, and the charming dhaba—we relived our college days and felt like a bunch of teenagers at the end of the program. Rejuvenated to do our bit to make the world a better place.

The power of the self and the collective

Boond boond se sagar — how true it is of ILSS, which carefully collects the droplets capable of transforming Self and others, equips them and leaves them in the ocean, with the potential to create a beautiful ripple effect. At the end of the program, some may decide to take the plunge into the social sector, some may just want to continue to do what they are doing.  Whatever may be the case, there has already been a transformation at a personal as well as professional level. 

Unlike any other executive/ management workshop I have attended, ILSS nudged me to question things that I had never questioned before: my actions, reactions, how I handle situations, how I take certain things for granted. Unique sessions helped me discover my inner values and what I stand for! ILSS triggers the inner questioning that bring you close to yourself:

• What is the purpose of my life?
• Do I stay in touch with myself?
• What do I truly stand for?
• Are all my thoughts, words and actions in alignment with my true self?
• Have I found at least one way to be happy in other’s happiness?
• What is my contribution to the collective consciousness?  Positive, neutral or negative?
• What is that one “I was here” mark that I want to leave behind in this world?

“I was here”

“I am Vyjayanthi Mala.

“I stand for Energy, Inspiration and Love” 

#EnergyInspirationLove   

What’s your hashtag?

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Unlike most of us, Anshu couldn’t look away when, as a young journalist, he encountered the truth about Delhi’s winter deaths: It’s not the cold that kills people, it’s the lack of clothing. That’s what set him on a mission that has since earned him the sobriquet of India’s Clothing Man. In 1998, he quit his corporate job and set up Goonj, with wife Meenakshi as co-founder.

Over the years, Goonj has successfully built a model that uses discarded material as currency to address rural and urban issues such as, water, environment, livelihoods, education, health, disaster relief and rehabilitation. As Goonj celebrates its 20^th anniversary, Anshu, who was conferred the Magsaysay Award in 2015, talks about his journey so far, the leadership challenges he faces, and why social justice is not just the responsibility of development sector professionals. Edited excerpts from the interview.

When you look back at the last 20 years, what gives you the most satisfaction?

Sometimes one thinks that one is hopeful because one is hopeful – there’s no logic to it. And then, one sees the good work done in the last 20 years, not only by Goonj but by so many other organisations, and one feels there is indeed reason to be hopeful.

Looking back, we can’t claim to have changed hundreds of thousands of lives. The fact remains that we can only bring some change, make a small dent in people’s lives and that too with their support. At Goonj we have just done that, and we have been fortunate enough to be able to do that across a geographical spread through various initiatives. Making sure that people understand their own power instead of depending on people like us, is a good start. It’s a good reason to feel happy about.

Is Indian society in general, leaving the social sector aside, doing enough to address questions of social inequity and injustice?

There’s something wrong for sure. We need to think why people don’t care enough. It’s like witnessing an accident on a highway: you are speeding in the opposite direction when you see the accident, you feel shocked, but you keep driving until you reach a place where you can sip a cup of tea, wash your face and then move on. The accident—and the emotion you felt when you first saw it—is quickly forgotten, and you go your way.

Most of us feel that we are immune to these things, that they will happen only to someone else. This, unfortunately, is the new normal.

I’m surprised that a lot of people expect the social sector alone to do all the good work. Doing good is a collective responsibility. People like us, who wear good clothes and have a good education, think it’s our right to have these privileges. We forget that basic education is the right of every kid in this country, but half of them don’t even make it past Class 10. We must realise that we are grossly privileged. It’s important therefore to pay back.

If the county progresses, it’s not just one section of the society that will benefit — we will all benefit.

How can people begin engaging with social problems?

By getting into action. If all of us start doing that, in whatever domain we want, in whatever is bothering us–be it polythene bags, paan marks on public property, the poor state of our zebra crossings, whatever it is—that’s a good beginning. Start alone, start with family or friends, just start. If 10 people listen to you, five will oppose; but look at the positive side. I believe that logic is largely an excuse for not doing something. So, be a doer. India doesn’t need any more thinkers for some time; we need doers, we need action and initiative. There are thousands of small organisations that are doing good work, and if you don’t want to lead, you can always follow them.

How would you describe your journey as a founder and a leader?

When you get into action, you explore something new every day, not only about your team, your work and the potential of your work, but also about yourself. As you and your organisation grow, there is a growing expectation of you and the organisation, not just from the world but also from yourself.

‘Leader’ and ‘follower’ are words that indicate a certain relationship: without the follower, there would be no leader. For people like us—who are not spiritual gurus or political leaders, many of whom can afford to talk without delivering much—the only way to get people within and outside the organisation to follow us, is to practise what we preach.  It’s my responsibility to take care of the institution and be aware of any word-action gap in myself as a leader and as an individual.

As a founder, it’s not enough that I speak to the world; regular conversations with the team ensure that I am not cut off from the last person in the team. Wherever I go, I spend time with the larger local team, even if for 15 minutes. That’s something other colleagues also have to do. It’s important to keep the connect.

In the growth phase of an organisation, admin work consumes a lot of time. But I guess it’s a package deal – it’s not like all the good work will come to you and the unpleasant work will go to someone else. When it feels mundane and not worth your time, remember that this is part of your dream: you’ve built an institution and you want replication to happen; so, you have no option but to work on those nuts and bolts to build a ready model for people to take away.

You often speak about democratic leadership. How do you make it work at Goonj?

We practise a guided democracy, wherein people have a lot of freedom to think and act; there’s an outline whose contours can change over time, but people know the non-negotiables. Freedom is as important as responsibility and delivery.

Over the last 20 years we have assured our team members that they can grow to their potential as we won’t bring in someone senior from outside the organisation. That gives them space and opportunity to grow within the organisation. It also builds a lot of trust.

One of the reasons for our growth is the quality of our leadership in different states. We seek to create a strong sense of ownership in our team members about the work they do. People in the communities don’t always recognise me, but they relate very well with the head of their local Goonj chapter. This sense of ownership is built in small ways, such as insisting that important emails go out from the colleague who’s managing the project, ensuring that local teams interact with local media, and so on.  That is a spirit we see being transferred from one generation of colleagues to the next as well. Since these things look very small, organisations often take them for granted–and that’s where gaps start happening.

We also move people across roles, so they see how they are interdependent and connected. Thus, a person in the product design and production team must recognise that their job is made possible by those who sort raw materials at our processing centre. If the field team didn’t work efficiently, why would we need a team to talk about money? Each member is a part of the same value chain and we can’t afford to have even a single link collapse.

We have a flat organisation, without designations. We are called Team Goonj. We see growth in terms of how our understanding and actions evolve. However, the larger world is used to seeing growth only in terms of changing designations. We do struggle sometimes when there are pressures from within and outside to introduce designations but, so far, we have manged the issue as a team.  When the need arises, we will see how to address it without changing our core philosophy.

What are the questions that you contemplate as a leader?

Maintaining the organisation’s value system is an ongoing issue. Building a value system is easier than maintaining it. For an organisation that often takes on the establishment, challenges the status quo, it’s not always an easy journey.

Maintaining trust in one’s team is vital. Organisations often create policies that are aimed at pre-empting one or two team members who may misuse a benefit, thus overlooking the goodness of a vast majority of team members. It is important to take care of the individuals in the organisation. Leaders and organisations tend to invest in machines, processes and systems, but in the end, it is the people who take the story home.

I constantly think about the language we use in the social sector to describe our relationships with the people we work with. To me, someone setting up a small organisation in a remote village of Kalahandi, with no resources other than a deep passion for change and a great understanding of the ground reality, is a real CEO and a dreamer.  I must respect them because they are a part of my larger dream. I’m not a donor and they are not a beneficiary. I am because they are.

Another issue of concern is the lack of understanding about societal issues and ground realities on the part of several CSR teams. This manifests in various ways, from the demand for unnecessary documentation, to insensitive display of branding, and the refusal to look beyond their immediate surroundings. While we do have CSR partners who understand our work and walk miles with us, there are also many organisations for whom concern for the country, social issues and development stops within 50 km of their offices, as though the villages of India did not even exist!

What next for Goonj and for Anshu Gupta?

There’s a lot to do still. I often say that development happens when one goes from zero to one, but when I look back at our two decades of work, I see that we have largely been working on moving people from minus to zero, meaning basic survival. So, there is a long way to go. One dream is to see how we can replicate the idea of turning urban discard into a currency for working on neglected issues of people in other countries and contexts.

Changing the language of the development sector is an important work in progress. We want to challenge demeaning words like ‘donor’ and ‘beneficiary ‘ and tell people that everyone is a stakeholder. We want to challenge the myth that we, the people in good clothes, know both the problem and the solution; we want to prove that people at the grassroots have much more to give.  We want to dispel the myths and the mistrust around the development sector.

I look forward to working with farmers, standing with hundreds of new initiatives, working with new entrepreneurs and people bitten by the social change bug.

Any regrets? Anything you wish you had done differently?

No, I have no regrets. It’s easy to look back after five years and say you could have done something differently, but if your intention was honest then that’s all that matters. You did what you thought was best at that time, you didn’t know any better then. It’s not possible for one organisation to do everything. Whatever we couldn’t do at Goonj, others can do. It might be an unfair world, but it is very generous at least in giving everyone enough opportunities to do something good, something meaningful.

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