Dasra Social Impact

Dasra is a very dynamic organization- they are able and willing to pilot programs such as Village Capital and Social Impact and partner with a variety of companies in the efforts to scale social change. In alignment with their mission to accelerate social growth, Dasra Social Impact is working with organizations that have a wide reach to marginalized communities in several sectors, in urban and rural areas.

I was fortunate enough to sit in on one of the day sessions for the Social Impact week. Each organization has already been established with a track record of success in social impact once they enter the program. The organizations range from for-profit, non-profit, and hybrids but all have a social impact aspect in their business plans. By participating in Dasra Social Impact, the businesses receive financial and management training in hopes that they will have a larger social impact and have the option to expand.

Dasra provides many tools that the entrepreneurs are able to implement in their own organizations, such as first hand knowledge from successful professionals in the field. Presenting the first day was Marc Manara from the Acumen Fund, who currently heads the Water and Agriculture portfolios and led the Pulse Project, a co-created program with Google. The focus of the presentation was taking a pulse of the organization to see how you are or are not meeting the goals that you have set forth for your organization.

Venture philanthropy for non-profits is not widely practiced but Dasra is revolutionizing the idea that social impact has a larger return than profit. The next section of Dasra Social Impact starts April 30^th, where I will hopefully be attending and will follow up on the work being done and the progress of the entrepreneurs in the program.