Now one of the leading grant-making organizations in India and the United States, the Deshpande Foundation (DF) is a family foundation that got its start in 1996 by Jaishree and Gururaj Deshpande. Currently, DF support for non-profit initiatives includes the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) and an assortment of innovative and dedicated non-profits working in what DF has identified as the “Sandbox,” the northwest region of Karnataka. All Deshpande Foundation activities center on the three core concepts: innovation, entrepreneurship and scalability.
My primary responsibility is directing the Deshpande Fellowship Program (DFP), a six-month, skill-based residential program with three main objectives: to increase efficiency in organizations with a social mission, to orient passionate leaders toward work in the development sector and to provide a platform for people with new ideas related to social enterprises. Each cohort includes a maximum of 25 young people selected from different parts of the country with diversified educational backgrounds and work experience.
The Fellowship takes a unique approach to entrepreneurship training by achieving a special balance between the academic and the practical. In addition to classroom instruction by leading scholars and accomplished professionals, the DFP methodology incorporates a significant amount of field work and other hands-on activities. The compulsory village stay, for example, provides first-hand village experience, which familiarizes Fellows with what is happening in the field and reignites their fervor for the cause. The program is comprised of nearly 30 modules, many somewhat unusual relative to other similar training programs. A sampling of our modules demonstrates the program’s breadth and depth:
· Social Entrepreneurship: includes business plan development, marketing, fundamentals of finance and accounting, fund generation, leadership skills, business writing, entrepreneurial motivational training and more
· Collaborative Tools: develops Fellows’ ability to create and use blogs and wikis
· Right to Information Act: conveys how to collect public information
· NGO Management: teaches logical framework analysis, theory of change, monitoring and evaluation, participatory rural appraisal (PRA), village studies and more
In addition to the modules, weekly Fellows are introduced to successful entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs who share their personal stories, challenges and visions. Prominent guest speakers include Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infoysys and Mr. Prasad Ram of Google India.
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