EDGE 2016 Focuses on Collaborations in the Social Sector

EdelGive Foundation, the strategic philanthropic arm of Edelweiss Group recently hosted the annual forum EDGE 2016. The fifth edition witnessed participation from grassroots organizations, distinguished corporates, philanthropists and social development experts. This initiative focused on the theme of ‘Why collaborations don’t work’ in the field of philanthropy. The engagement platform provided opportunities and insights to donors and NGO partners by engaging in meaningful conversation about creating effective collaboration. The coming together facilitated discussion, deliberation and insight sharing for effective cross learning to enable all stakeholders and partners to be ahead of their issues and challenges.

Paresh Parasnis, the CEO of Piramal Foundation moderated a panel on ‘Leadership and Intent: Where It All Begins’ which consisted of Madhukar Banuri of Pune Connect, India Lead; Maneesha Chadha of JP Morgan, Shankar Marudwa of EkStep, and Vivek Vig, Entrepreneur who shed light on how good leadership can lead to successful collaboration.

Another panel moderated by EdelGive CEO Vidya Shah underlined the work of the ‘EdelGive Coalition for Transforming Education’, a partnership with the Government of Maharashtra to improve the quality of education in four backward districts of the state. The panel consisted of Daljit Mirchandani of Gyan Prakash Foundation and Aditya Natraj of Kaivalya Education Foundation along with Siddesh Wadkar, a State Education Specialist.

The third panel had Vijaya Balaji, CEO of ToolBox India and Yashodhara Lal, Head, CSR at Genpact, and deliberated on‘Finding the Right Alignment’ and discussed the GSIF – The Genpact Social Impact Fellowship which is a highly selective one-year fellowship facilitated by the Foundation.

The session was arbitrated by Naghma Mulla, COO, EdelGive. The day concluded after a discussion on ‘Leveraging Personal Relationships’, moderated by Govind Iyer of Egon Zehnder with a panel consisting of Alka Puri of Roads Ahead Consulting and Nimesh Sumati of Caring Friends. The duo spoke of their unconventional beginnings in the world of philanthropy.

The second and third day of the forum mainly consisted of panel discussions by the NGO partners of EdelGive Foundation. The focus was on knowledge sharing and cross learning amongst the vibrant group.

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The CSR Journal Team