Mandeep Kaur (36), a media professional working in the corporate sector, was passing by Mumbais slums in 2014 when she witnessed the social-economic inequality. She thought how she could bring about a change in the lives of people living in the slums. Finding her true calling in the social sector, she decided to do something about it.

Mandeep quit her stable job in media marketing and started working with NGOs to understand the sector better. She realised there was a huge talent gap in the social sector, which led to the birth of Tribes For Good in 2014.

Mandeep Kaur, Founder & Programme Director-India, Tribes For Good

Mumbai-based Tribes For Good is an experiential learning programme for people who are looking to understand the social sector and bring about a change.

To this date, the organisation has successfully trained over 1,000 volunteers and has created an impact across 50 social enterprises. It currently has its networks in the urban slums of Mumbai - Malwani, parts of Goregaon, and Dharavi.

In India alone, over two million social impact businesses are working to develop solutions to the countrys most pressing social and environmental issues, and reports suggest that more than 50 percent of these businesses are understaffed, leaving an opportunity for businesses to double their impact.

To help the young minds understand how he or she could drive the change, Tribes for Good guides them through a series of steps.

Mnadeep interacting with the local community and the participants

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To give an insight, TFG trains students, professionals, and retirees from countries like Australia, the US, and Europe on innovations at the base of the pyramid in India. They want to give back but arent sure how, says Mandeep.

The flagship programme of the organisation, called Young Changemakers, is suitable for young adults who are likely to be the future entrepreneurs, consultants, and diplomats, and want to participate in social, economic, and environmental issues affecting India. The programme also helps to sensitise people and build essential problem-solving skills. It lets participants understand their responsibility towards future generations.

TFG's Social Impact Journey focuses on developing a deeper understanding of peoples potential to bring about a social change. This is a week-long, curated expeditions of discovery and insights in India where the participants work on a dedicated project. It is mostly focused on womens empowerment and youth, and lets participants use their management skills, bridging the talent gap faced by the social impact organisations.

The last programme is aimed at sustainability, which are curated day experiences or day walks for individuals to give them an introduction to the sustainability scene in India.

Getting local community on board

These programmes are run along with vetted non-profits or social enterprises that have a strong influence on the community. The professionals are chosen as they have been working in the communities for years and hence there is trust, care, and openness to new ideas.

At present, Tribes For Good comprises of mentors from diverse backgrounds including engineering, law, and management professionals across the globe. Besides, the team also has well-known people such as Deepa Krishnan, founder of Magic Tours; Anusha Bharadwaj, a social entrepreneur; and Pradeep Mahtani as advisors on board.

To begin with, the organisation maps the area that the communities want to work with - be it financial inclusion, digital inclusion or even improving their comprehension skills.

Participants

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Speaking about the challenges, Mandeep says, visitors, travellers, and students they bring in to work with marginalised communities sometimes find it difficult to adapt their services quickly. She says, participants should overcome their assumptions on safety, lack of amenities, and bias.

Building in-roads with the communities through organisations and great personal outreach and involvement was one of the challenging tasks, including adapting the services in an agile fashion to cater to the different people, she says.

The organisation is creating email marketing, videos, and business communication workshops for Aftertaste, which is a social enterprise it has partnered with that uses art as a form of empowerment to uplift low income women.

The video and communication material has been used for fundraising and to positively impact the bottom line of the organisation.

TFG also runs basic financial literacy training like using ATM and BHIM UPI to increase the financial inclusion and building on key components of trust, access, and comfort.

Mandeep along with the participants and the local community

Adelina Kriplani, an alumnus of TFG, shares that she could not only learn about the social space but also about whether the changes she, as an aspiring changemaker, strives for in the social sector are truly occurring.

Adelina was intrigued about how NGOs strive to make these changes, and if she, as a young recently graduated volunteer, really had any valuable skills that could contribute to creating sustainable change. It was those questions that led her to Tribes For Good.

Mandeep says, she looks forward to reaching out to a greater number of people by partnering with students, individuals, and retirees.

She says, Over the last year, we have doubled the number of organisations that we have worked with and have expanded to Bengaluru and Delhi. We are also looking at attract more mentors who can work on social impact projects.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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Originally posted here:
This Mumbai organisation is enabling changemakers and bridging the talent gap in social sector - YourStory