The Changemakers Seminar
Having supported over 250 NGOs and 100+ activists in India over the last four and half decades, the IDS team has been fascinated by their commitment and passion to make a difference. The team wondered what drove these committed individuals to often give up their successful careers and dedicate their lives to the great good of society. This inquisitiveness led us to start a monthly webinar in a “Changemaker” virtual series that we now host every fourth Saturday of the month at 9:00 AM CT.
Through interactive dialogue, we not only want to learn about how the organizations were started, but also about their successes and challenges and how their projects have evolved over time. We wanted to understand how IDS’ support has helped them in their transformation journey in various aspects of development, including education, healthcare, livelihood, women’s empowerment, agriculture, and water conservation among so many others. Such ongoing dialogue with Changemakers allows IDS to reflect on the ground reality as well as the potential for networking with other like-minded NGOs.
Changemakers Seminar Schedule for 2023
| Date | Title (click link to get recording) | Presenter | NGO |
| 2/25/2023 | Dr.Pankaj Tiwari | Jan Swasthya Sahyog | |
| 5/20/2023 | Rehabilitating & Reuniting the Mentally Destitutes with their Families | Dr.Bharat Vatwani | Shraddha |
| 6/24/2023 | Christopher Turillo | Medha | |
| 7/22/2023 | Nafisa Barot | Utthan | |
| 8/26/2023 | Parul Sheth | Shaishav | |
| 9/23/2023 | Anwar Jaffery | Samavesh | |
| 10/28/2023 | Shrey Desai | SEWA rural |
To date, we have been fortunate to host upwards of 20 Changemakers since we started the series. One of our longtime supporters and a social activist in her own right, K Sujata was so inspired by these talks that she also agreed to convert their stories into a podcast series on a voluntary basis. These podcasts are now available on soundcloud and podbean under the title ‘Sarvodaya’ or you can access these podcasts anytime with this QR code.
In 2020-21, we welcomed the following Changemakers (click below to view past seminars):
- Ramesh Bellamkonda of Bharatha Swaamukti Sanstha (BSS) Microfinance
- Chandrakala Bhargav of Adarsh Mahila Griha Udyog (AMGU)
- Anita Patil Deshmukh of Pukar
- Madhukar Deshpande of Vidyanvahini
- Shiban Ganju of Save a Mother
- Jayant Hardikar of Himalayan Education Foundation
- Manish Jain, co-founder of some of the most innovative educational experiments in the world–the Swaraj University, the Jail University, Complexity University, the Creativity Adda, among others.
- Trupti Jain, Director of Naireeta Services, BHUNGROO
- Adhik Kadam of the Borderless World Foundation
- Dr. Khushroo Patel of Gram Seva
- Dr. Abul Sarah of the International Village Clinic
- Lokender Pal Singh of Pardada Pardadi
- Ramesh Swamy of Unnati
- Prakash Tyagi of GRAVIS
- Mahesh Wani of Save Indian Farmers