StatingBloc, an Institute of Social Innovation programme kicks-off its Bangalore chapter. Would-be Fellows get ready
Do you have a dream job? Do you earn a good money? Do you create a positive social impact? Do you wake up every day loving your life? If not, StartingBloc will get you there. This international fellowship programme, which educates and connects emerging leaders to drive social innovation across sectors, opened a chapter in India with a regional board in Bangalore, on Saturday.
Its flagship programme — the Institute of Social Innovation — held every year in Boston (Harvard University, Tufts University, MIT), New York (Columbia University) and Los Angeles, is aimed to help realise young people’s ideas.
Sarah Bishop, fellowship director of StartingBloc, said: “The age group that we are looking at would be roughly 18 to 29, which would include undergraduates, graduates or young professionals.
The most important factor is that they are in a stage of their career when they can choose the direction, and the fact that they are willing to blend economic value with social value. StartingBloc teaches them how to do it.”
Entrepreneurship isn’t all that the fellowship is looking at. It also focuses on ‘intra-preneurship’ — how one can continue at his/her professional course and work on social innovation.
Students, social entrepreneurs and young professionals interested in the social domain can apply for the fellowship. It will choose 125 of the applicants, and bring them together at institute venues for a five-day intensive workshop and conference, where they learn the nuances of social innovation and get expert help in starting their own ventures.
StartingBloc has a huge network spanning 80 countries, 300 universities, and over 100 organisations. In India, it has 45 fellows, and of them, 22 live in Bangalore. This is partly why it chose to set up a regional board in the city.
Sameer Segal, an engineer from the National Institute of Technology, Suratkal, underwent the fellowship programme at MIT Sloan School of Management in 2009. He worked with Engineers for Social Impact (E4SI), a programme that connects top engineering talent to credible social enterprises driving market-based solutions to development in India. Under E4SI, he interned with Ujjivan, a leading micro-finance institution. His experience talking to needy men and women, who approached them for finance, got him thinking about how to use technology effectively in the social sphere. He designed a slate-shaped intuitive technology product for microfinance field staff. It takes the entire process of data collection and loan disbursement online, and translates to a savings of Rs8 crore annually. Segal has been recognised as one of Asia-Pacific’s most promising young social entrepreneurs by the Paragon100 Fellowship.
Akash Raman is another StartingBloc Fellow, who got back to pursue his dream. “I attended the StartingBloc Boston 2010 Fellowship programme, and believe it was an immense learning experience which made me quit my PhD degree at Harvard to come back to India to participate in the process,” said Raman, CEO, E4SI, and visiting faculty at BITS, Pilani.
The regional board launch on Saturday was a community-building event, where everyone got a chance to pitch their idea to the entire group, and find like-minded people or others who could help in some way. The top three pitches were chosen by votes and were given the platform to elaborate on their idea further. Prof Suryanarayanan A, chief operating officer, NSRCEL (Nadathur S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning), IIM Bangalore, spoke about how to turn ideas into reality. “A good entrepreneur never chases money, he makes the money come to him,” he said.
He emphasised on the need to do enough research, share idea with others and form a good team with contradictory but complementary people. “One personality trait for successful entrepreneurs is an ability to take decisions and live by them,” he said.
StartingBloc applications open in September. A more sustainable and just global economy is what they are working towards. For more details, log on to http://www.startingbloc.org
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