SPJIMR Partners with M3M Foundation to Promote Social Entrepreneurship

SPJIMR and M3M Foundation have signed a memorandum of understanding, whereby M3M Foundation will provide grants to selected Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that participate in the institute’s Development of Corporate Citizenship (DoCC) initiative. The grants will be used to fund social initiatives and scale social entrepreneurship and impact.  The two parties will also collaborate to create case studies and knowledge bases. DoCC is an internationally renowned initiative that links SPJIMR to the NGO community through student internships and various events and forums that focus on ecosystem and knowledge building.

The MOU was signed on the occasion of Ehsas - an annual DoCC event for NGOs. The event, held on February 21-22, 2023, was inaugurated by Dr. Payal Kanodia, Trustee of M3M Foundation. Ehsas provides a platform for micro entrepreneurs and various self help groups to showcase their products and sell directly to consumers and businesses. This year's focus was on farmers, women entrepreneurs, and small businesses run by people with disabilities, and nearly 70 organisations from Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan participated.

The event also featured a roundtable with the theme "Enabling resilient ecosystems: Farmers, SHGs, micro-entrepreneurs." The roundtable was attended by representatives from banks, farmers, FPOs, agri-startups, micro-entrepreneurs, and social impact investors. The mandate of the roundtable was to discuss the challenges faced by the sector and identify potential solutions. The discussion on challenges faced by farmers and FPOs, including access to credit, required technological platforms, and market linkages needed to create sustainable businesses, was moderated by Dr. Sudhir Goel, former Additional Secretary, Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra. The subsequent discussion on identifying going-forward solutions was moderated by Dr. Arup Dutta, Managing Trustee, Ranmir Foundation. The roundtable concluded with closing remarks from Dr. Payal Kanodia and Dr. Amit Naphade, CEO of KVGK who reinforced the need for collaboration to build sustainable and resilient futures. Dr. Chandrika Parmar, Director, DoCC, closed the event by reiterating SPJIMR’s commitment to enabling a sustainable agricultural ecosystem.

The event partners were M3M Foundation, and KVGK. Global Vikas Trust and Swades Foundation were knowledge partners.

Dr. Varun Nagaraj, Dean of SPJIMR said, "Sustainable development requires wise innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels, especially within the social sector. We are happy to partner with M3M Foundation to help entrepreneurial grassroot organisations to scale their impact.”

Discussing the MoU, Dr Payal Kanodia, Trustee of M3M Foundation said, "At M3M Foundation, we are always looking for innovative ways to create positive social and environmental impact at scale. I would like to thank SPJIMR for being receptive to our vision and partnering with us to realise it."

Dr Chandrika Parmar, Director DoCC, noted, "Scaling social enterprises and sustainable ecosystems, whether in the area of agriculture, or in other areas of need as identified by the United Nations through their Sustainable Development Goals, requires resources and collective will. The collaboration with M3M is an important step in that direction."