SOCIAL SECTOR
INITIATIVES
DRF, in line with its vision, works with the community, government and private sector to address specific problems that have the potential to bring lasting system-level changes and improve overall outcomes for the ecosystem. In addition, it focusses on supporting initiatives aimed at building a strong and vibrant social sector in India.
ABOUT ARITRA
In the social sector, leadership development is not an issue of urgency. As a result there is a deficit of skilled and resourceful talent at the mid and senior management level. To address this gap, Dr Reddy’s Foundation along with Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and Phicus Social Solutions, incubates a Leadership Accelerator Program called ARITRA, to coach and mentor a new generation of leaders.
The Aritra Program is a 12-month intensive, fast-track leadership module. It includes residential modules at IIMB, co-anchored by academicians and practitioners, one-on-one coaching, mentoring by social sector leaders, e-learning supplements, peer sessions and real-time problem solving exercises. Aritra Fellows learn skills to drive impactful policies and build strong organizations. Aritra aims to build 100 senior leaders over a span of three years.
KEY ISSUES
500 non-profit professionals singled
out leadership development and
succession planning as their biggest
organisational
weaknesses.
Research with 50 social sector organisations
and 100 senior leaders have emphasised on
lack of investment
for leadership development.
OUR SOLUTION
Provide a hands-on approach to social sector management through close mentoring and peer sessions by management experts and social sector leaders, so that participants can step up to build strong organizations and amplify social impact.
STORIES OF CHANGE
Mugdha Lele is a middle level manager working at Venture Center in Social Innovations. After more than a decade of work experience Mugdha wanted to get “structured exposure to business management” and was scanning for an opportunity when she heard about the Aritra program.
Says Mugdha “the USP of the Aritra program is that it is tailored for the social sector and this clicked with my needs. Along with the training modules at IIMB, the program was also providing us with mentoring support and networking opportunities in the social sector which was a value-add that I could not ignore.”
Mugdha contends that Aritra helped her to evaluate her work profile and scrutinize her project about developing a ten-year road map for Social Innovation for Venture Center. “The skeleton was developed during the program and I got valuable insights to further firm up this plan. Also, the IDP was something unique and helped me to address some of the challenges that I was facing in my day-to day functioning in my role as Manager.
Thanks to the Aritra Program, I am now mentoring eight Social Innovators at a time, which would have been a fairly difficult task before” concludes Mugdha.
