Bhubaneswar: Odisha-born Santanu Mishra was conferred IBM’s “Sustainability Leader of the Year” award during the UBS Forum Sustainability Summit & Awards 2023 in Mumbai recently for his pioneering the concept of Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP) in the development sector.
Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP) is an adaptation of successful business model of venture capital for the development sector, linking social investment strategies to charitable giving with a focus on achieving scalability and sustainability. The idea behind amalgamation of social venture philanthropy was to bridge the gap between corporate or funders who have the required resources to make large-scale social investment.
Speaking after receiving the award, Santanu said, “I have a firm conviction in the potential of local community-based organisations (CBOs) in bringing change at the grassroots level. Hundreds of social entrepreneurs are born every year in different corners of the country, but they need the right guidance to survive, succeed and serve the nation.”
A management strategist and a legal consultant by profession, a company secretary by qualification, and an entrepreneur by passion, Santanu completed his management education from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
He quit his full-time corporate career in 2005 and has been spearheading Smile Foundation as its Executive Trustee. A pioneer in applying many successful management practices in the social sector, Santanu’s contribution can also be described as a convergence of good governance, championing entrepreneurial spirit at the grassroots, leveraging emerging technologies, encouraging innovation, creating a high impact model, and imbibing the philosophy of real work and real change.
In order to complement the working model of social venture philanthropy, Santanu has initiated a special programme called Empowering Grassroots. The mission is to build capacities of genuine grassroots initiatives through extensive workshops and training programmes by engaging Indian and international experts.
Social entrepreneurs leading community-based organisations from across India are trained in subjects such as operations, organisational building, communication, mobilisation and fundraising, and are further assisted in applying their learning in their day-to-day operations on the ground.
Santanu has been directly engaging with many of these grassroots social entrepreneurs, mentoring and advising them to excel in their endeavours. Till date, Smile Foundation has partnered with and built capacities of more than 1,000 grassroots organisations.
