Corporate Social Responsibility Is Alive and Well: Pepal’s Innovation in India Program

The freshest ideas in corporate social responsibility may come from uniting representatives from both the private and public sectors. At least, that’s what social enterprise Pepal believes. This past March, the organization launched its Innovation in India program, which offers a new take on executive development.

Innovation in India pairs private-sector professionals with senior staff from Indian non-profit organizations over a six month period to help create and execute community projects tackling problems such as HIV/AIDS, children’s health, youth unemployment, and women’s rights.

Partners will also receive joint training from London School of Economics Professor of Innovation and Management, Harry Barkema. This training will focus on two primary goals: how to build economically sustainable and scalable business models that address the needs of specific communities and exploring how building networks with partners (such as multinationals, local companies, NGOs, and governments) can create better business models.

"I expect this to be a life-changing journey for many of our private-sector participants. They will be working on challenging problems in new and often difficult circumstances," says Pepal’s Executive Director, Julie Saunders. She adds that it’s also equally beneficial for non-profit participants.