Article
Skills vs. Passion: The Challenges for Corporate Professionals Who Move into the Social Sector
Professionals “are very impatient to scale, and don’t realize that in the social sector, what to scale is more critical than how to scale,” says Rohini Nilekani, philanthropist and founder of Arghyam, a Bangalore-based NGO. Corporate professionals, Nilekani adds, tend to have a strong and mistaken belief in the power of the markets to solve […]
Article
Freedom At High Noon – The great leap created wealth for some. Public policy must spread it evenly.
INDIA’S shift towards a market economy was like a volcanic eruption, the lava of which is still spreading through society. Its impact, along with globalisation, has greatly benefited many people, but especially those who already had significant advantages created for them by the erstwhile^ more socialist regime The urbanising middle class of the 1960s and […]
Article
UNCOMMON GROUND: DIALOGUES WITH BUSINESS AND SOCIAL LEADERS – Rohini Nilekani
Excerpted with the permission of Penguin Books India from the book Uncommon Ground: Dialogues between Business and Social Leaders by Rohini Nilekani. View PDF
Article
Microfinance, Macro Trends
The macro crisis in the microfinance sector may not get resolved anytime soon. But it is a symptom of a much larger trend moving through the country. The Indian microfinance model developed differently from that in its original home in Bangladesh. It took root with self-help groups (SHGs) set up in Karnataka by Myrada, with […]
Keynote
Address at 10th Anniversary of Akshara Foundation
This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s speech on equitable quality education for all children, organised as a part of Akshara’s 10th Anniversary celebrations. Rohini spoke about the breadth and depth available today in the field of education, and pledged for social inclusion, for an equitable dispensation for marginalised and underprivileged children. One […]
Interview
We aim to provide a book in every child’s hand: Rohini Nilekani, Pratham Books
New Delhi : In a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Pratham Books (NGO), publisher Pearson Longman has agreed to set aside part of the proceeds it receives for every school title sold in India, which will then be used for the cause of the underprivileged children across the country. View PDF
Interview
BEHIND THE IT REVOLUTION –
IT companies may bring in their wake a certain culture of work and play which may veer away sharply from Bangalore’s pre-IT days, but the city is trying hard to keep its integrity. “The city has evolved.. It has grown madly in every direction, planned and unplanned, grown with granite and glass, with bricks and […]
Panel
IIMB Round Table: Business and Development
Businesses now contribute to development through avenues other than the generation of employment and economic growth, such as corporate social responsibility initiatives, corporate accountability movements and alternative business models, using several partnership formats to deliver. A panel with representatives from leading corporations, NGOs, and a public sector bank discussed the changing nature of corporate power, […]
Article
A Philosophy Of Philanthropy
Journalist-turned-philanthropist Rohini Nilekani, the founder of Bengaluru-based NGOs Pratham Books and Arghyam, feels everyone should be water-wise today. View PDF
Interview
‘Challenge creation of islands in society’
Rohini Nilekani is essentially a philanthropist at heart and passionate about development issues. The fact that she has featured in the Forbes’ list of Asia Pacific’s 48 ‘Heroes Of Philanthropy’ for the second consecutive year proves this. She speaks to Shruti Khairnar on middle class values and corporate social responsibilities. View PDF