By Gauri Khanna
New Delhi: A network of philanthropists in India has helped create 217,000 jobs in farm, healthcare and other sectors across the country in the past six years.
Until March this year, Social Venture Partners (SVP) India with its 43 skills and livelihood members has impacted farmers, nursing assistants and various other job seekers from underprivileged segments, says a press release on August 29.
The network says it is committed to creating 1 million jobs in India by 2022.
SVP India, a high impact organization, enjoys supports from industrialists, CEOs and skills veterans. It was founded by Ravi Venkatesan, former chairman of Cummins and Microsoft in India, in 2012 in Bangalore. It is now led by Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of 5F World and former CEO of APTECH and Zensar.
The press release says the network created the jobs through direct local action, aggregation and national expansion and encouraging successful local models.
“We do not just do check book philanthropy, we are venture philanthropists who bring decades of corporate leadership and entrepreneurship experience to the social sector through the active engagement of partners,” explained Natarajan while explaining the network’s mission.
SVP India provides employment opportunities supporting NGOs, aggregators and social enterprises. It helps society through grants, capacity building and network. It taps the aspirations of young people and integrates skill providers in the organized economic sector through research and help of donors and partners.
The network explores engagements with NGOs and social enterprises, who can contribute to its Million Jobs Mission. It partners with those keen to bring about positive changes in society joining hands with others for a common cause.
Tata Trust, Rockefeller Foundation, the Pune Municipal Corporation, Titan Industries and many individual philanthropists such as Baba Kalyani and Rahul Bajaj have supported SVP India or its partner entities, the press release says.
SVP India, which plans to expand all India in 2019, will launch in September an applications drive for NGOs, Chapter Chairs and partners in all state capitals.
The Indian unit is part of SVP International, a global network of donors, founded in 1997 in Seattle, US. It has more than 40 SVP affiliates in nine countries and 3,200 partners.
Each SVP affiliate invests in their local community and remains connected to the global movement.
SVP International has grown into the world’s largest network of philanthropists comprising more than 3,400 investor-donors across 40 cities in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, United Kingdom, besides the US.
Over the years, SVP International has invested more than US$70 million in 900 non-profit investees and 2,466 organizations participating in other programs.