Ankit Kumar (2011 batch) starts Green Leaf Energy Private Limited

I have started my company, "Green Leaf Energy Private Limited", working in the renewable energy space. The company objectives are to provide employment opportunities, arrest migration, alleviation of poverty, improve the living standard in rural Bihar and produce renewable energy.

The company has been provided support and guidance by the XLRI Entrepreneurship Development Centre. I am presently working on Bio-diesel and have set up a nursery of Pongamia (Bio-diesel yielding plants), growing 1.2 lakh plants in Kothwara village of Gaya, Bihar.

The company has conducted awareness programs in rural areas of Bihar for utilization of wastelands by doing Pongamia plantation.The company has also formed a contract with 200 farmers over 500 acres of area in Gaya, Bihar. We are looking to scale up the plantation area to 1 lakh acres of wasteland in Bihar.

The company will set up its Bio-diesel extraction unit to produce Bio-diesel, as per the National Biofuel Policy. The company will also set up Bio-gasifier power plant unit generating power from the shells of Pongamia plants for rural electrification.

The project has already been appraised by NABARD, Indian Oil and PNB for technical and financial support.

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2nd National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship @ XLRI (Jan 29-31, '10)

Hello folks! Season’s Greetings from XLRI! I am happy to inform you that we are the 2nd National "Working Conference" on Social Entrepreneurship @ XLRI during Jan 29th-31st, '10. This mail is both to inform (in case, some of you would like to attend), and with a request to pass it on to those who you think may be interested. The theme of the Conference is "Solutions for Inclusive Development" and it aims to provide a common space to the practitioners (social entrepreneurs, CBOs/NGOs, Government Agencies, Academics, Funding Agencies, Support Organisations and Corporate) for interaction and learning from each other. We were greatly encouraged by the participation in the last Conference, (http://social-entrepreneurship-at-xlri.blogspot.com) which was attended by about 160 practitioners from the development sector as participants. This year's event is designed as a "working conference" which would allow the participants to not just listen and learn, but also to share, discuss and co-create solutions/alternatives as a take-away, by actively and collectively engaging in solving real, live problems, which are of their interest and concern. Based on our interactions with practitioners in the field, we have tentatively identified a few broad themes/groups for the working groups in the Conference. In each group, we also plan to have Resource Persons, who have made significant contribution to the space, and would help bring greater value to the group, and lead the discussions. · Market Linkages: Mainstreaming the Marginalised Producers · Employment & Livelihood: Organising the Unorganised · Universal Primary Education: Investing in the Future · Financial Inclusion: Creating an Equitable India · Healthcare & Hygiene for All: Making a Healthier Society · Access to Technology & Societal Resources: Empowering the Masses · Grass Root Innovations: Supporting Rural Entrepreneurship In addition, the conference will be interspersed with panel discussions on relevant themes (I am pasting below the tentative schedule of the Conference for your reference). We are working on the registration details for the conference (that being the function of sponsorship – if we can get those :0), and will share the same soon. We expect about 25 Social Entrepreneurs and Development Sector Professionals to participate in the Conference as Resource Persons. I am also happy to share, that as of now, the following have confirmed their participation as Resource Persons - Mr Arbind Singh (Executive Director, Nidan) Ashoka Fellow & Social Entrepreneur of the Year '08 http://www.nidan.in/ - Mr Arun Diaz (Trustee & Member of Investment Board, Aavishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund) http://www.aavishkaar.in/ - Mr Ashish Rajpal (Co-Founder & Managing Director, iDiscoveri) http://www.idiscoveri.org/ - Dr Ashwin Naik (Co-Founder & CEO, Vaatsalya Healthcare Systems Pvt Ltd) http://www.vaatsalya.com/ - Dr Balaji Utla, (CEO, Health Management & Research Institute) http://www.hmri.in/ - Mr Chandra Shekhar Ghosh (Chairman & Managing Director, Bandhan Microfinance) Senior Ashoka Fellow & winner of Microfinance Award '09, http://www.bandhanmf.com/ - Mr Devendra Shukla (Director, Jaipur Rugs Foundation) http://www.jaipurrugs.org/ - Mr GN Murthy (General Manager – New Initiatives, ITC- Business Div) http://www.echoupal.com/ - Dr Joe Madiath (Founder & Executive Director, Gram Vikas) Senior Ashoka Fellow & Skoll Social Entrepreneur http://www.gramvikas.org/ - Mr Niraj Subrat (Vice President, Marketing, International Development Enterprises-India) http://www.ide-india.org/ - Mr Paul Basil (Founder & CEO, Villgro) Ashoka Fellow http://www.villgro.org/ - Mr Pravin Mahajan (Executive Director, Janarth) Ashoka Fellow http://www.janarth.org/ - Mr Samit Ghosh (Founder & CEO, Ujjivan Financial Services Pvt Ltd) http://www.ujjivan.com/ - Mr Sandeep Farias (Founder & Managing Director, Elevar Equity) http://www.elevarequity.com/ - Ms Saloni Malhotra (Founder and CEO, DesiCrew Solutions Pvt Ltd) http://www.desicrew.in/ - Ms Sohini Bhattacharya (Director, South Asia Partnerships, Ashoka Innovators for the Public) http://india.ashoka.org/ - Mr Soumen Biswas (Executive Director, PRADAN) http://www.pradan.net - Mr Upmanyu Patil (Managing Director, Sakhi Retail Pvt Ltd) http://www.sspindia.org/resources/SRPL_profile_09.pdf ======================== Tentative Agenda of the Conference January 29th 2:00-3:30 Inauguration, Design of the Conference, Inaugural Address 4:00-5:30 Panel: Social Entrepreneurship & Inclusive Socio-Economic Development January 30th 9:00-10:30 Panel: Inclusive Growth: Challenges, Opportunities and Impediments 11:00-6:00 Working Group Discussions - Themes: · Market Linkages: Mainstreaming the Marginalised Producers · Employment & Livelihood: Organising the Unorganised · Universal Primary Education: Investing in the Future · Financial Inclusion: Creating an Equitable India · Healthcare & Hygiene for All: Making a Healthier Society · Access to Technology & Societal Resources: Empowering the Masses · Grass Root Innovations: Supporting Rural Entrepreneurship January 31st 9:00-12:30 Sharing/ Presentations by Groups 2:00-3:30 Panel: Scaling the Impact 3:30-4:00 Conclusion ================================ Dr Madhukar Shukla Coordinator - 2nd National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship (Jan 29 -31, '10) & Professor (OB & Strategic Mgt) XLRI Jamshedpur CH Area (East) Jamshedpur 831001 (India) ph: 91-657-398 3333 mailid: madhukar@xlri.ac.in / seconference@xlri.ac.in/

XLRI Students Intern with Social Ventures

From The Telegraph

XLRI pupils to learn on the job

ANTARA BOSE

On course Jamshedpur, Sept. 7: A social entrepreneurship course at XLRI will now come with an internship at a national-level NGO. The B-school has planned to introduce internship in the curriculum of social entrepreneurship, an elective course, from this year after the success of Parichay, a social entrepreneurship programme, last time. “From this year onwards, the curriculum of the course will include an internship programme. The idea is to enable students to know how an organisation functions. Every student will have to complete a project to learn the hiccups in the area,” said Madhukar Shukla, a faculty of social entrepreneurship. About 14 students have already begun their internship in NGOs such as Pravah, Prayas, iDiscoveri in New Delhi; Aarambh in Bhopal; Helen Keller Institute of Deaf, Blind and Dumb, Mumbai; SEWA video in Ahmedabad and a few based in Jamshedpur such as Ujjivan and Kalamandir. The course has also undergone a change from this year. Instead of the one-term course, social entrepreneurship will now become a two-term (six month) one. “The purpose of the internship is to help students gain a first-hand experience of working in a social venture, in a sector of their choice. This learning will also help them to develop their business plans and acumen for latter part of the course,” said Shukla. From this year, students were also made to do a field work that comprised meeting 10-15 hawkers, rickshaw pullers and door-to-door visit to see their lives close quarter. “The visit has been made compulsory because most of our students come from urban middle class and if they want to bring a change, they will have to understand the lives of the downtrodden, their situation and economic condition,” he said. “We may not earn like other management students but will be able to bring about a social change. In order to start a social venture, we need to have a vision and the internship will also make us learn about the hiccups,” said Nidhi Rawal, one of the students of XLRI who is interning at Ujjivan in the city.

Invite from Vikas Sharma (09BMD) - Parichay's 1st product exhibition

Dear friends,

I am very happy to communicate this invitation from our very own social entreprenur, Vikas Sharma (XL Alumnus of 09BMD), Co-Founder & Partner, Parichay, for their 1st product exhibition on July 19th (Sunday) @ United Club, Jamshedpur.

Parichay, as you may be aware, is a social venture, which got its angel funding from the XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust.

This is the first public display of their work, and your presence/visit will not only be an encouragement to Vikas, but to his entire team of artisans and designers. It would be really great if you can find time to find time and visit the exhibition on Sunday.

ciao

madhukar

Respected Guest

I cordially invite you to the1^st product exhibition of Parichay, “Roopantar – The Change”.

Event Details:

· Exhibition: “Roopantar – The Change”

· Venue: United Club, Diwan–e–Khaas hall

· Date: 19^th July 2009, Sunday

· Inauguration at 11.00 am

· Chief guest: Mrs. Nerurkar

· Exhibition timing: 11.30 am to 2.00 pm & 3.30 pm to 10 pm

· Launch of Parichay’s New Logo: 5:30pm

We will be displaying three categories of our product range:

· Home décor

· Corporate

· Table top accessories

These are products completed made by our local rural/tribal artisans. This is our first attempt to showcase the change we can and we will bring in the eco-system of artisans and craftsmanship in India.

Our designers Richa Nigam and Micheal Lakra from NIFT, Delhi have designed some innovative products in just one month of their project with us. They have worked with natural raw material like bamboo, stone, sawai grass, colors and leather.

We have achieved this significant milestone in about 9 months since we started in Oct 2008. We have grand plans for the future and we wish to seek your critical inputs to make sure we proceed in the right direction with the right objectives.

We look forward to your kind presence to grace the occasion and support our artisans in the change we wish to create.

Your support and presence will encourage us to take our initiative further.

Warm Regards

Vikas Sharma

Co-founder & Partner

Parichay