Deshpande Foundation Fellowship in NW Karnataka

The Deshpande Foundation is a Boston based philanthropic foundation focused on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and International Development. They recently launched three unique fellowship opportunities, where fellows can get grassroots experience working in Northwest region of Karnataka

• Sandbox Fellow: This is a year-long program for young professionals or post-graduate school candidates who seek an extended experience working in on-the-ground development and/or social entrepreneurship.
• Innovation Fellow: This is a shorter term opportunity (up to six months) for an entrepreneur who would like to test a product or idea in a development lab setting.
• Junior Fellow: This short term (three to six months) opportunity is designed for mid-degree graduate students or experienced undergraduates who want to make an impact through field experience

Role of social entrepreneur-Prakash Bhatt, BAIF

Mr.Prakash explained the role of a social entrepreneur with a small beautiful story. A king had 17 elephants and decided to give ½ to first son, 2/3 to second son and 1/9 to third son. A social entrepreneur came and added a elephant and made it 18. He gave the elephant accordingly and took back the remaining elephant.  Mr.Prakash said social entrepreneurs should plug those things which are missing and train people to manage for future missing links if occurs. But most of us implements our agenda and wants people to depend on ourselves.

Gururaj Deshpande on Enterpreneurship

Interaction with Mr.Desh & Family

Mr.Gururaj Deshpande

 

 

Mr. Gururaj observed that skill set is required to minimize the risk we take. Most NGO’s suffer because they are individual driven & not process driven. Due the course of time their weakest link will be exposed. He suggested living with the idea and running with the idea. In Social Entrepreneurship, E-is the ability to make things happen & S- is where we should intervene. NGO’s should set appropriate milestone and know where they want to reach and should continuously motivated. Maintaining balance between work & family is like juggling a lot of different balls. Crystal balls represent work related aspects and glass balls represent family, friends & relatives. Glass balls once broken cannot be got. So we should be carefully prioritize.

 

 

 

Social Enterpreneurship

Mrs. Jayshree Deshpande, Trustee, Deshpande Foundation

       Mrs. Jayshree gave insights on various aspects related to the development sector. Rapid globalization & Advancement in technology have created the world into have and have not’s. The same forces can be used to create equal opportunities in the world. Collaborative efforts of free market economy & NGO sector are needed. NGO sector in India lacks competition and there are no demands by the clients. We should develop the ability to look at issues without biased. Analytical and good execution skills are needed. Idealistic approach to life is the greatest strength and we should not give up our ideas. We should walk into situations and Innovations can have both societal and economic impact.