Setting up an impact-oriented team for success in India
We are at a critical moment in our India journey. The British Asian Trust's work in India across child protection, women empowerment, conservation, and skills, livelihood, and education through social finance platforms, has seen remarkable outcomes, thanks to the longstanding commitments of our dedicated supporters. Our impact footprint has grown substantially and in response, our team in country has grown considerably.
Our diverse India team now operates from six different locations and brings a wealth of experiences, perspectives, and cultures to the table. It is imperative that the team feels not only aligned but also empowered to succeed, ready to face internal and external challenges, and confident in our mission.
With the aim of setting up a team that can enhance community wellbeing, engage donors more effectively, and nurture stronger impact partnerships, we designed an array of brilliant sessions at our 2024 India offsite - C3: Communicate. Connect. Collaborate, in Jaipur.
The team reflected on our Strengths, Opportunities, Anxieties and Results (SOAR), discussed solutions to critical process challenges in a World Café session, and deliberated on how we can develop better safeguarding standards to protect our staff, partners, and communities.
We were delighted to host and learn from external speakers Seema Bansal and Hisham Mundol. Our work in India entails close liaising with governments and government agencies at various levels. Seema, Vice-Chairperson at the Punjab Development Commission, joined us to provide her insights on engaging the government effectively and working to transform systems.
Seema was an absolute star, and her valuable inputs helped us understand critical points in government engagement: spending more time in the field, hiring multifaceted people in the team, building better relationships with the community, and co-creating social change initiatives with the government.
Hisham Mundol is the Chief Advisor of the Environmental Defense Fund’s India chapter. Most recently, he led the work of Children’s Investment Fund Foundation in India across health, nutrition, adolescence, education, girls & women’s rights and livelihoods, child protection and climate change.
With him, we sought to explore climate change and implications for our work. He gave a stellar perspective of how climate is inextricably linked to social outcomes such as income, health, education, and how the British Asian Trust could look at incorporating climate change in our existing work, to serve and protect our communities better from climate change effects.
Visiting field partners in Jaipur allowed us to witness first-hand the impactful work being undertaken, infusing our team with inspiration and energy.
Amidst the serious discussions, the offsite also provided ample opportunities for team bonding and getting to know each other.
The vibrancy and energy of our team was inspiring. Closer connections were forged, and we are now even more excited about the impact that our work can have in India. I can’t wait to see what we will be able to achieve together in 2024!
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