For many family foundations, philanthropy starts with giving—but increasingly, it’s becoming something more. At a recent AVPN Learning Circle, Siddharth Agarwal, Foundation Lead at Upadhyaya Foundation, offered a deeply reflective view on how family foundations can play a quiet, yet transformative role in catalysing ecosystem change.
Rooted in two decades of supporting underserved communities across India, Upadhyaya Foundation has evolved its approach from traditional grantmaking to something more catalytic, grounded not just in funding programmes, but in building relationships, ecosystems, and long-term capacity. As Siddharth put it, “Impact takes time—and we need to build structures that allow for that.”
Four key principles emerged from the conversation. These principles may serve as a roadmap for other family foundations seeking to amplify their role as ecosystem catalysts:
1. Start with Listening, Not Leading
The most foundational shift Siddharth advocates is a mindset change: from designing interventions to co-creating them. Before jumping into solutions, the Upadhyaya Foundation takes time to understand what NGOs truly need, not just what funders think they should need.
This came through vividly in their support for a snake conservation workshop in the Western Ghats. Rather than setting the agenda, the Foundation convened over 30 scientists, activists, NGOs, and academics, creating a space for collective dialogue and problem-solving. “We didn’t lead the conversation,” Siddharth shared. “We created the space for it,” he continued. By having this space, the workshop becomes an early formation of a coalition grounded in trust and shared purpose.
2. Invest in the Foundations of Change
Often, the most transformative work is the least visible. Convenings, advocacy, and leadership development rarely make headlines, but they’re the connective tissue that enables systems to shift.
Upadhyaya Foundation’s collaboration with India Animal Fund and People For Animals (PFA) exemplifies this. By supporting policy advocacy efforts, they moved beyond service delivery into influencing systemic change. It was a reminder that funders can play a powerful role not just through grants, but by helping de-risk ambitious, long-term efforts that individual NGOs may not be able to pursue alone.
Investing into infrastructure, and not just implementation, requires a different kind of patience, and a long-view approach to impact.
3. Embrace Humility and Flexibility
Philanthropy rarely follows a linear path, and ecosystem work even less so. Siddharth spoke candidly about the emotional labour involved in navigating sectors as emotionally charged as animal welfare, where disagreements can run deep, and identities are often deeply tied to the work.
In such spaces, rigidity becomes a barrier. The Foundation has learned to sit with discomfort, evolve its approach, and relinquish control. That means resisting the pressure to “scale” prematurely, and instead choosing depth by building relationships, trust, and shared purpose over time.
4. Use Power Thoughtfully
Even the most well-intentioned funders bring power into the room. But how that power is used, through language, posture, or decision-making, can either build trust or undermine it.
Siddharth acknowledged how easy it is, even inadvertently, for funders to disempower. Upadhyaya Foundation is working to shift this by positioning itself not as a top-down authority, but as a facilitator. Whether it’s funding overheads, supporting leadership development, or walking alongside NGOs through messy transitions, the posture is clear: “We’re in this together.”
Ultimately, the conversation highlighted a quiet yet profound transformation underway: from funders as financiers to funders as facilitators. For family foundations, with their long-term vision, nimble structures, and greater tolerance for uncertainty, this is a powerful and timely opportunity to catalyse change in ways institutional actors often can’t. Philanthropy, when rooted in empathy and designed for systems, has the potential to not just support impact but amplify it. Family foundations like Upadhyaya Foundation are showing us not just that ecosystem change is possible, but also how it might be done.
