Workshop on Social Entrepreneurship

Workshop on “Social Entrepreneurship: The Road Ahead”

The workshop was spread across a number of interactive sessions, led by experienced (social) entrepreneurs. Introductory talk titled “Social Entrepreneurship: Importance, Issues, and Challenges” was delivered by Mr. Mukund Deogaonkar (Founder, First Energy). This was followed by interactive sessions on “Stories from Social Entrepreneurs” and “The Funding Landscape”. Leaders from a diverse set of sectors and issues came together to interact with students to demystify some of the deeply held (wrong) beliefs around social entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs representing successful ventures such as SURE: Sakhi Enterprise, Rang Sutra, Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd, SWACH Pune, Bottom of Pyramid Energy & Environmental Innovations Pvt. Ltd., Uplift Mutuals, Rang De, Intellecap, ARC Finance and ASCENT, Mumbai made inspiring presentations and stimulated an engaging discussion amongst the students.

The event was also marked by a special workshop (for a pre-selected 25 students) that focused on “Discovering the Social Innovator in You”; led by Mr. Manish Srivastava (a renowned leadership trainer) and Ms. Prema Gopalan (a successful entrepreneur and founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog, SSP). The second day of the workshop was also marked by a well-received plenary talk by Mr. Yogesh Patgaonkar (Group Head HR, Zensar Technologies) titled, “Social Entrepreneurship: the Business Aspect”.

The one & a half day of stimulating, inspiring and thought provoking sessions left a deep mark on the students and proved to be a major turn in their lives. SSE pledged to continue to play the role of facilitating social change through such interactive workshops and resolved to engage in an on-going dialogue and partnership with many of the organizations that were represented in this workshop.