By Mangesh Wange PGP 94
Caption: A woman in Raigad, Maharashtra joyfully demonstrates water access at home, enabled by Swades Foundation
I moved to the social sector with Swades Foundation after 27 years of corporate life in 2016. I was conscious of how big a shift it was and how much unlearning it warranted to be able to lead the organisation in the direction that its founders, Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala, had envisioned.
However, with the kind support of a spectacular team, I was able to navigate a new landscape – literally and figuratively – and come to the realization that there is so much that the two sectors (for-profit and nonprofit) can borrow from each other. Reflecting on my journey, this has been the best career move and hugely satisfying.
About Swades – empowering rural India
Caption: Mangesh Wange with Swades co-founders Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala during a village meet
At its core, Swades Foundation is a community-driven, grass-roots organisation working on holistic rural development. It empowers communities, builds aspiration and enables village transformation with deep interventions in four important areas of community life – Water and Sanitation (WatSan), Health, Education and Economic Development.
More specifically, the interventions include providing clean drinking water through a tap at home, constructing individual toilets in every household and in schools, ensuring rural households achieve an annual income of minimum Rs 2 lakhs per annum through multiple livelihoods, ensuring primary healthcare via trained volunteers etc.
Each day, a 270+ strong team along with 10,000 community members work to transform ‘one million rural lives every 6-7 years’ through holistic development by creating a scalable, replicable and community-centric model of sustainable development.
In the past 10 years that Swades has worked with rural communities, it has had a reach of over 1 million individuals across 3,000+ villages of Nashik and Raigad in rural Maharashtra. A Dalberg Assessment of Swades Foundation’s efforts suggests that the Social Return on Investment (SROI) of a Swades intervention is 21x – For every rupee invested, there is a return of Rs. 21 in social, environmental or economic value. A Bridgespan report illustrates Swades’ community-driven model as an impactful to approach to drive social change.
Caption: Dream Village celebrations in Nagloli, Raigad
Reflections from the development sector
There have been innumerable learnings over the past eight years that have helped amplify our reach and impact.
1. Love your community:
For any social transformation to happen, we must engage with the community to build mutual trust and understanding. Without genuine engagement, no permanent positive change can happen.
2. Collaborate:
Social change thrives on collaborative effort. Expanding peer networks, knowledge sharing with corporate CSRs, other NGOs, governments, academicians etc. is invaluable. Swades model is a combination of some of the brightest ideas adopted from other institutions – like BRAC which is based in Bangladesh and one of the few to adopt a holistic model of change.
3. Climate lens:
At the outset include ways to make the model green – with renewable energy, local resources, mindful use of resources. Sustainable social change must be environmentally conscious.
4. All Hands (Head and Heart) on deck:
Measuring social impact is not the same as measuring profits. Considering the human aspect of the effort is crucial to creating a compassionate model where the team, community and all other stakeholders can work seamlessly and contribute most effectively.
5. ‘Swa’ se bane des:
The community, not the customer, is the king in developmental work. A truly sustainable framework can only be led by a community willing to take ownership of its transformation. It is what led to the evolution of the Village Development Committee (VDC) in Swades villages – a group of nominated, trained community volunteers entrusted with the responsibility of driving positive change within their hamlets – the backbone of Swades’ efforts. With over 1,200 VDCs established, we are confident in passing the baton to these community leaders as catalysts for sustainable change.
Corporate inspiration
While the passion and commitment of the social sector is unparalleled – as seen by the pioneering efforts of so many social purpose organisations in India and overseas–there is scope for borrowing learnings from corporate governance.
1. Systems and processes:
Passion when paired with the right processes can catapult social models to be more scalable, replicable and sustainable – which is the need of the hour.
2. Reporting and transparency:
Social sector will gain from making its operations and reporting transparent for one to measure social impact. Nurturing a robust monitoring and evaluation team and facilitating external audits in one way of fostering credibility through transparency.
3. Expert Knowledge:
There is a lot of attention and action happening around Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), CSR and ESG framework. So experts from various fields can contribute in designing innovative solutions to meet these goals. It is imperative that organisations constantly evolve their model and challenge existing frameworks to build higher reach and impact.
4. Team Building and Leadership Development:
There is a need and opportunity to build teams and leadership development in the social sector and it can benefit from the experience and knowledge of HR experts from the corporate world.
How can you support?
Social purpose organisations can gain from various types of collaborations – volunteering, funding, sharing knowledge and network. I encourage everyone to explore an association that best suits your cause and commitment.
A pioneering effort in the social impact space, the Social Stock Exchange by NSE/BSE is a powerful tool that promises to unite people, capital and efforts towards nation building. The platform lists credible organisations and causes addressing pressing social and environmental issues while giving the donor a regulated corridor to support causes closest to their heart. I encourage everyone to look up the many causes alongside Swades’ listed programs and support those that most resonate with them.
Mangesh Wange is the CEO of Swades Foundation. His last held position was Business Head, Nature’s Basket and Aadhaar Retail at Godrej Agrovet Ltd. He can be reached at mangesh.wange@swadesfoundation.org
