SSE India starts its 9-month fellowship programme

The first learning block, 3-day residential programme encouraged fellowship participants share their struggles and journeys till now…

School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) India along with its Founding Partner, PwC India embarks its Social Start-Up Fellowship 2016 with the 17 select fellowship participants. They come from diverse backgrounds, and age group—18-42 years. Their ideas cover myriad areas– health, agriculture, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), waste management, energy management, education, ICT, urban farming, skill development and livelihood.

The first learning block started on 20 April at Zorba The Buddha. On the first day, we had two witness/practitioner sessions led by Shalabh Mittal, the CEO of SSE India & an Intrapreneur, and Saritha Thomas, a SSE UK Fellow currently working on community radios in the states of Uttrakhand and Tamil Nadu. Saritha shared her journey with experiences ranging from community engagement to governance in the project along with her experience as a SSE UK Fellow.

We closed the evening with a dinner organised for our partners & supporters to meet the fellowship participants. The event was graced by Ms. Jyotsna Sitling, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.

Addressing the gathering, Ms Sitling said, “The moment you see the PwC logo, you believe in the credibility it brings to the work. SSE India is a pioneering initiative. We look forward to the contribution of PwC India and SSE India to help us achieve our vision of enterprising India”.

Day two began with a session on business model canvas that gave the participants an opportunity to start defining and refining their social enterprise business model. Post lunch we had Dhruv Lakra, founder of Mirakle Couriers (a courier company run by low-income persons with disabilities) share his journey from the concept, his inspiration, to making it a robust business model and said, “Make your social business, a business first.”

Day three was an intense day for our participants who spent the entire day in Action Learning, an intense group coaching methodology led by actions. We had five facilitators trained by an expert from UK during the month of February, leading the coaching sessions with a set of Fellows each.

“The sessions have helped in creating a culture within me of questioning my choices to the last ‘ WHY’. The tone is set to work on the ‘HOW’”, said one of our fellowship participants, Vidyut Mohan, 25, working on an energy project in rural Uttarakhand.