Panel
Insider-Outsider-Insider
Rohini Nilekani moderates a discussion on delivering large-scale transformational programs, impact on the ground, and the implementation of such programmes in a large and diverse country like India. The discussion draws on the learnings from the Swachh Bharat Mission, the world’s largest successful behaviour change programme, which drew over 55 crore rural Indians out of […]
Keynote
Rohini’s Comments at The Annual Desh Apnayen Awards Ceremony
This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s address at the ACTIZENS awards ceremony hosted by the Desh Apnayen Sahayog Foundation. In her speech as Chief Guest, Rohini Nilekani discusses how we can harness India’s latent potential to shape extraordinary citizens who will make India the world’s greatest democracy. You and your friends, and all […]
Keynote
Comments at SVP, Kolkata 3rd Anniversary Meet
This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s comments at SVP’s 3rd Anniversary Meet in Kolkata. My Journey to Structured Philanthropy I have been on my philanthropic journey for about three decades now. When I look back at it now, I think the real journey started much before, with my ancestors, because it is what […]
Article
कबीनी का काला पैंथर
यह तो होना ही था। जब दिल प्रफुल्लित होकर भर आता है, तो आंखे छलक ही जाती है। अंततः जब मैंने उस जीव को देखा, जिसका पीछा मैं पांच वर्षों से कर रही थी तो आंसू बिन बुलाये मेहमान की तरह चले आये। आख़िरकार, वह ब्लैकी या जैसा कि स्थानीय लोग उसे कहते हैं, करिया […]
Article
Curiosity Over Certainty: A Learning Approach to Grantmaking
In this piece, Natasha Joshi, Associate Director at Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, writes about a learning approach to grantmaking emerging from our work with Young Men & Boys In the work of creating a gender-equitable society, men play an essential role – this is labour that women should not and cannot shoulder alone. But in virtually […]
Article
Encounters with Kabini’s Black Panther
For those waiting and watching, it was another good moment. For me, it was an unforgettable one. For years, I had been on a pilgrimage to find one elusive, unique animal in the Kabini forest of Karnataka—the world’s most famous black panther, known locally as Karia or Blackie. During this past pandemic year, I was […]
Interview
Climate Action and Impact: A Decade of Insights
This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani in conversation with Prashanth Prakash at the launch of ACT for Environment at the ACT Summit. The ACT Summit brings together India’s leading startup founders, venture capitalists and changemakers to talk about how we can leverage inventive startup assets and ideas to enable social change. In 2021, […]
Interview
Trust is the Absolute Foundation of Any Partnership: Q&A with Rohini Nilekani
Rohini Nilekani is a fierce believer in the power of being an active, participatory citizen. She quips that her friends could get irritated with her Gandhigiri, as she went about picking up waste which people had thrown on the road or requested people to stand in line at bus stops right from her childhood days. Today, […]
Report
Working with Young Men and Boys – A Landscape
This landscape study provides a high level view of the efforts being undertaken to include boys and men in gender based work. It includes a snapshot of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies own work in this space. In order to realize a gender equal society, it might not be enough to empower or work only with women. […]
Interview
Building Trust Through Grantee Feedback: The Story of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies
This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s conversation with The Centre For Effective Philanthropy. She talks about the importance of feedback, speaking truth to power and trust-based philanthropy. We set up Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies only recently because earlier much of my philanthropy work was done through Arghyam, my foundation for water, or […]