How Nachiket Mor and his team are trying to to bring about a paradigm change in the social sector
Overarching visions, massive scale, and rapid execution have been the hallmarks of India’s 21st century corporate giants. None typifies this better than ICICI Bank, whose transformation into India’s leading consumer bank and mega financial institution will remain a case study for times to come.
So, it isn’t surprising to see the same spirit underlying a brand new institution that is being spearheaded by Nachiket Mor, and which aims to bring about a paradigm shift in the social sector.
By putting together a slightly-complex structure of organizations( ICICI Foundation, IFMR Trust, Network Enterprises Fund, CSO Partners, etc), Nachiket and his team are aiming to create an enduring focus on sustainable development, via the ‘for-profit’ route. Their firm belief is that sustainable development cannot be achieved via recurring grants to NGOs or others, but only through a combination of low-cost products; debt and equity funding; and tools, know-how and market linkages.
At the heart of this strategy is their current effort to develop complete solutions for as many as 14 different verticals like Crafts, Dairy and Foods to fascinatingly interesting ones like Rural Tourism, and Rural BPO. By working as ‘market-makers’( i.e. creating linkages between supply chain and market demand) in each sector, they hope to massively impact livelihoods and enterprise development in each of these areas.
While many of these verticals are still work-in-progress, it was great to see the progress in the established ones like Foods, where the team’s efforts are enabling fruit farmers in Himachal’s Bhuira village to scale up their operations by accessing more markets for their jams, marmalades, preserves, and chutneys.
There’s truly a serious effort on here to bring a paradigm shift in the social sector. If anyone can make it happen, this team can.
