AVPN India and leading law firm Nishith Desai Associates held an event on 14th March in Mumbai with Nobel Prize winner Prof. Yunus. Prof Yunus shared his experience of creating a vibrant social business in the form of Grameen Bank which has led to the formation of the microfinance industry. Paul Carttar, founding president of President Obama’s Social Innovation Fund, also shared his experiences on how the US government approaches social innovation.
There were around 200 attendees comprising of leading industrialists and organizations engaged in philanthropy, both in India and globally, many of whom also shared experiences from their own philanthropic journeys.
Asia has a huge opportunity to change the world through social investment and venture philanthropy. India with its numerous social challenges and growing wealth could provide a model for the rest of Asia. Indian industry captains are well poised to lead this effort due to their ability to create large scale social impact and hence the event provided an opportunity to share their experiences and help inspire and motivate a new group of venture philanthropists.
AVPN Social Investment Roundtable: A Global perspective and the Indian experience: March 16th and 17th – Bangalore & Delhi
AVPN held two roundtables in Bangalore and Delhi in partnership with Unitus Capital and the University of Chicago where Paul Carttar, the founding president of the Social Innovation Fund in the US, brought a global perspective to the social investment sector. The session in Bangalore had an intimate group of 15 participants, primarily impact investors, whereas the Delhi event had about 40 attendees and the group comprised development institutions, foundations and academics.
Social investment has a variety of different formats; this spectrum spreads from philanthropy, corporate social responsibility to impact investments. The new Companies Bill throws up some very exciting possibilities in India. Along with the existing impact investment players, and strategic grant makers, this will allow corporates to also engage in venture philanthropy and social investment. The sessions were an attempt to deep dive into the current international developments in the social investment sector as well as explore the Indian social investment sector.
