Upaya receives 501(c)(3) status, changes URL to upayasv.org

As of 31 January 2013, Upaya Social Ventures (EIN 80-0713334) is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Following this change in status, Upaya and Jolkona Foundation have agreed to close out our fiscal sponsorship agreement effective 1 April 2013.

With its nonprofit tax status in place, Upaya has also transitioned its web domain to upayasv.org. Going forward, upayasv.com will re-direct to the new domain, while staff will continue to receive emails at both their .org and .com domains.

Upaya's fiscal sponsorship agreement with Jolkona was originally signed in 2011 to ensure that individual donors and grant-making foundations could contribute to Upaya's work prior to Upaya obtaining its own tax exempt status. Under this arrangement, all of Upaya's reporting to the IRS was incorporated into Jolkona's annual 990 filings. However, in keeping with Upaya's value of transparency, Upaya-specific financial statements for 2011 and 2012 have been posted on the Finance and Governance page.

Justrojgar Awarded First Runner-Up in "Power to Empower" Competition

Upaya proudly congratulates Ajaya Mohapatra and the Justrojgar team for being named First Runner-up in the non-student category of the Power to Empower business plan competition. A partnership between the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and India@75, Power to Empower "[encourages] innovative and implementable business solutions that contribute to the development of a sustainable vocational skills ecosystem in India." This year's competition received 234 nominations and over 100 applications.

"We are extremely excited to see Justrojgar recognized by the NSDC for its potential to transform the lives of the urban poor," said Sriram Gutta, Upaya's Director of Business Development. "By training slum-dwellers on needed skills and ensuring they get social benefits, Justrojgar is creating job opportunities in a market with enormous potential," Gutta said.

As First Runner-up, Justrojgar will receive a free delegate pass to the Sankalp Unconvention Summit 2013 courtesy of the Villgro Innovations Foundation,  the opportunity to participate in the Deakin University’s (Australia) Sponsored Entrepreneurship program, a Complimentary TiE Annual Associate Membership, and a bundle of classes and mentorning courtesy of the Sunstone Business School.

Judges Saurabh Srivastava, Rajan Navani (both left) and MV Subbiah (far right) congratulate Ajaya Mohapatra (center) and Ashish Gupta

Ashish Gupta (left) and Ajaya Mohapatra present to the judges in the competition's final round.

Changes at Samridhi Agri-Products

With

transparency

as one of Upaya’s core values, we are committed to sharing our successes, challenges, and failures with our partners, donors and industry peers equally. It is in that spirit that we would like to provide an update on a pair of changes that have recently taken place with

Samridhi Agri-Products

.

• In January Samridhi management chose to move the location of its first Bulk Milk Chilling (BMC) facility before the second was brought online. The company needed to better space the collection centers to reach the largest number of dairy farming families. As a result, 46 of the original Samridhi employees - including several women who had been profiled on our website - are no longer within the zone of service and have been transitioned out of their roles. However, the company was careful not to leave them in a precarious situation. Samridhi management took steps to accelerate the livestock ownership transfer to the individual employees and a large majority now own the cows and goats that had been in their care.

This was a very difficult decision for both Samridhi and Upaya, however, we hope to re-incorporate these villages into the Samridhi supply chain as the company continues to expand.

• Unrelated, Samridhi Co-Founder and CEO Lokesh Singh has transitioned out of his day-to-day management role with the company and has been replaced as CEO by his Co-Founder Niraj Pareek. Biswanath Swain, who has been with the company since its inception, has filled the COO role. The Upaya team has been part of this transition planning and is working closely with both Niraj and Biswanath to ensure that the company’s operations continue to follow its plan for growth.

What does all this mean for Upaya? We have always known that startup enterprises face a unique set of challenges and that, because of their size, the changes they experience can feel quite dramatic. As such, we intentionally designed our LiftUP Project to be patient with investments and work alongside partners so they can have the confidence to make adjustments as issues arise. Both Sriram and Sachi were in Lucknow with the Samridhi team in mid-January and we continue to be optimistic that the company will be able to navigate through this period of change. In fact, during our visit we were happy to find that Samridhi was reaching the same percentage of ultra poor families as before and the company was enthusiastically embraced in the communities where it is operating.

From the beginning of our partnership, we have had full faith in the Samridhi model to create jobs and improve livelihoods. Despite these recent changes, this belief has not wavered. We thank you for your continued support and please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Upaya team directly if you have any questions.

Justrojgar Joins With Upaya to Create Service Sector Jobs for the Very Poorest

Committed to skilling and securing employment for the millions of potential service industry workers currently living in ultra poverty, Delhi-based Justrojgar is proud to announce that it has secured an initial equity investment from Upaya Social Ventures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This strategic partnership will afford Justrojgar the resources and expertise needed to connect those living in extreme poverty with an ever-expanding array of opportunities in service sector,” said Ajaya Mohapatra, Managing Director of Techpeople, the parent company of Justrojgar. “Together we are working to ensure rojgar (jobs) for the poor in a way that is just and equitable for all,” said Mohapatra.

Justrojgar was designed as a social venture to bridge the demand-supply gap in the service industry by creating a comprehensive ecosystem to train job seekers and link them with potential employers. For corporate clients, service employees can fill roles such as janitors, security guards, and porters, while in a domestic setting these positions can include full- and part-time housekeepers, cooks, doormen, and caretakers. Through its partnership with Upaya, Justrojgar will build on its pilot National Capital Region operations to establish a national footprint for skilling and placing the manpower needed to fill the massive national labor market shortage for formalized service work.

“By allowing a variety of corporate and domestic employers to confidently source capable and reliable employees, Justrojgar is making it possible for those living in the furthest depths of poverty to directly benefit from the country’s economic growth,” said Sachi Shenoy, Upaya’s Executive Director. “Upaya has been impressed by what the Justojgar team has accomplished so far and see great potential in this model,” she said.

The partnership coincides with the launch of www.justrojgar.com, India’s first-ever integrated online employment exchange for the service sector. The company envisions the website as a complement to its other efforts to recruit, train, place, and support service sector employees. Justrojgar is also fostering on-the-ground partnerships with the government, NGOs, corporates, industries, microfinance institutions and microfinance associations to fully realize the potential of its platform.

Update

on 2012-12-04 23:55 by Upaya

20 November 2012

Update

on 2012-12-04 23:55 by Upaya

21 November 2012

Update

on 2012-12-04 23:55 by Upaya

24 November 2012

Update

on 2012-12-04 23:55 by Upaya

28 November 2012

Eco Kargha Partners With Upaya to Build Employment Opportunities for Bhagalpur Weavers

Eco Kargha Handicrafts Marketing Pvt. Ltd. is proud to announce that it has joined with Upaya Social Ventures to employ marginalized Tasar silk weavers in Bhagalpur, Bihar - a region commonly associated with the high-luster, strong, and lightweight fabric. With Upaya’s backing, Eco Kargha will hire and train slum-dwellers on new skills, techniques, equipment, and designs for producing wholesale Tasar silk as well as linen, cotton, and fine wool. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.

“Bhagalpur weavers have long been regarded as artists creating magic on their handlooms, but have faced challenges in scaling up the industry beyond handicrafts,” said Dr. Ravi Chandra, Founder and Director of Eco Kargha. “With Upaya’s help, we will be able create systems that will impact thousands of weaving families in a sustainable manner,” he said.

Bhagalpur is known for being the traditional home of Tasar silk products, and as many as 100,000 families are in some way involved in its production. However, while it is an increasingly popular material in men’s and women’s clothing, Tasar silk cultivation and production in the area remains very unstructured. The majority of people weaving Tasar silk do so as a secondary occupation as the linkages to tools, materials, training, and markets are not in place for weaving to be a primary livelihood for a significant number of people.

“The Eco Kargha team has spent years working with some of the poorest populations in Bihar, and the founders have a keen sense of both the needs and productive potential of Bhagalpur's artisans,” said Sachi Shenoy, Executive Director of Upaya Social Ventures. “We at Upaya look forward to working with Eco Kargha to develop a sound business model that can create a number of new jobs and social benefits for this geography.”

Most Eco Kargha weavers qualify as ultra poor - generally living under $1.25 a day at the time of their hire – and over 50% belong to a backward caste, scheduled caste, or minority community. Furthermore, the United Nations Development Programme has identified Bihar as one of the states in India with the highest rates of domestic migration in search of work because of the lack of opportunities to earn a viable living locally.

Upaya Shares Insights, Experiences on Impact Measurement at TiEcon Delhi 2012

Upaya's Executive Director Sachi Shenoy presented on a panel titled “Measurement and Long-Run Impact: A Discussion with UChicago Social Entrepreneurs” at this year’s TiEcon Delhi 2012 event. Moderated by Chicago Booth Deputy Dean and Upaya Advisor Robert Gertner, the panel explored three different organizations' approaches to measuring outcomes and the implications that effective measurement can have on long-run impact. 

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. Hosted by the TiE Delhi-NCR chapter, TiEcon Delhi 2012 recognized entrepreneurship’s move into India’s mainstream and the powerful change it has brought globally. TiE currently has 13,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 61 chapters across 17 countries dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education.

For more information about the event, please visit www.tiecon-delhi.org

Update

on 2012-10-30 19:03 by Upaya

More on the panel and the challenges of impact measurement:

10 October 2012

Update

on 2012-10-26 06:05 by Upaya

Sachi was one of many prominent women social entrepreneurs featured by Entrepreneur India during the event:

9 October 2012

Upaya Well Represented at the First Indiaspora Forum in New York

Upaya's Sachi Shenoy and Sonny Garg were two of the 100 Indian and Indian American leaders who gathered September 14-16, 2012 outside New York City for the first annual Indiaspora Forum. The event was designed to facilitate discussion of the critical issues that impact the global Indian community and lay the groundwork for actionable solutions.

Indiaspora's Forum establishes an epicenter for the diverse array of Indian American perspectives. Representatives from all constituencies of the community – from technologists to activists, sage academics to "Rising Stars" – engaged in a mix of strategic discussion and candid conversation over the course of the intimate, three-day forum.

For more information about the event, please visit indiaspora.org.

Upaya Partners with the Indian School of Business for the iDiya Challenge

Upaya is proud to announce that it has joined with the Indian School of Business (ISB) for the fourth edition of iDiya, the ISB's National Social Venture Competition. Through the partnership Upaya staff will participate in the mentorship and judging phases of the competition. In addition, those iDiya entrants with strong potential to create jobs and improve the quality of life for the ultra poor will be simultaneously considered for participation in Upaya's LiftUP Project.

iDiya accepts entries from small groups of working professionals in India. Teams submit an executive summary of their business ideas and plans, which are evaluated by student evaluators, faculty, investors and social VCs, and social entrepreneurs. Submissions are evaluated on various parameters, including measurable social impact, criticality of the social need and sustainability of the enterprise.

For more information on iDiya, click

here

.

Update

on 2012-09-19 05:36 by Upaya

Excitement for this year's iDiya Challenge is building. Upaya's involvement in the ISB initiative has been cited in:

13 September 2012

13 September 2012

14 September 2012

Upaya Welcomes Sonny Garg and Dipika Matthias to its Board of Directors

Upaya Social Ventures is proud to welcome Sunil “Sonny” Garg and Dipika Matthias to the organization’s Board of Directors.

“We are very excited to welcome Sonny and Dipika to Upaya and are looking forward to working together to realize great change for families living in extreme poverty,” said Kate Cochran, Upaya’s Interim Board President. “Both bring tremendous experience and insights to the organization, and I am confident their leadership will be invaluable to Upaya as it continues to grow,” Cochran said.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Board,” said Garg. “Upaya can and will make an enormous difference in the lives of those who are typically ignored and deemed to be hopeless, and I am excited to contribute in whatever small way I might be able,” said Garg.

“I’m excited to contribute to Upaya’s pioneering approach of marrying venture capital with poverty reduction as it has the potential to be a game-changer in the field of international development,” said Matthias. “I’m also excited to be part of an organization that tracks real metrics of social progress at an individual unit level – which is at the heart of the impact we are trying to make,” said Matthias.

For more information on both new members and the entire Upaya board, please visit our Board page.

"Stand For Girls" with Upaya & GlobalWA

Upaya is proud to join Global Washington and the Seattle Center's Next 50 campaign in taking a stand for women and girls around the world.

Please join us September 22nd at the Seattle Center to learn more about Upaya and the community!

Click http://bit.ly/USV4women to learn more.

Update

on 2012-10-30 19:22 by Upaya

Steve discusses Upaya's evolution at the Stand for Girls event:

22 September 2012

Upaya Teams Up with Chicago Booth Social Enterprise Initiative to Promote New Models for Social Change

Upaya Social Ventures is proud to announce today the appointment of its Executive Director, Sachi Shenoy, to the Advisory Board of the Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) at Chicago Booth. Robert Gertner, Deputy Dean at Chicago Booth and Co-Director of the SEI, will also join Upaya’s Board of Advisors.

“Throughout the world, enterprise development and job creation have proven to be a highly effective way of ushering populations from poverty to prosperity. We look forward to working with Upaya to identify new models for social enterprise, while giving our students the tools and exposure to design and build companies that can provide social benefit,” said Gertner.

Chicago Booth established the SEI to enhance the efficiency and impact of social sector organizations through research, data collection, communication and education. The initiative builds on the school’s commitment to rigorous analysis and its discipline-based approach to understanding organizations, markets, and policy.

The collaboration allows Upaya to advise Chicago Booth on the design of its MBA curriculum for students interested in social entrepreneurship. It will also open internships and research projects for the Chicago Booth community, while allowing Upaya to call on the school’s thought leadership, academic resources, and vast alumni network to advance its mission. Additionally, Shenoy will be a judge in Booth’s Social New Venture Challenge and Upaya will contribute to the Social Entrepreneurship Lab programs.

“We are very excited by the invitation to help the next generation of social entrepreneurs both in Chicago and around the world,” said Shenoy. “As an alumnus, I am honored to join such an accomplished group of faculty and alumni on the SEI Advisory Board, and believe that Chicago Booth is well positioned to be a global leader in social enterprise.”

As a member of Upaya’s Board of Advisors, Gertner will work with the Upaya team to refine methods to measure social performance. He will also support Upaya’s efforts to identify new models and best practices for creating jobs and improving the quality of life in the world’s poorest communities.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rob Gertner to our team and know his involvement will ensure Upaya adheres to the highest standard of excellence in business development and social performance measurement,” said Shenoy.

About Chicago Booth’s Social Enterprise Initiative - The Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business aims to enhance the efficiency and impact of social sector organizations through research, data collection, communication, and education. Established to support interest in the non-profit and social sectors, SEI builds on Chicago Booth's commitment to rigorous analysis and its discipline-based approach to understanding organizations, markets, and policy. The initiative's mission is to further the field of research on issues of importance to the social sector and to support social enterprises that wish to apply proven business practices to strategic decision-making and organization management. For more information, please visit http://research.chicagobooth.edu/sei/.

Upaya and XLRI Jamshedpur Create New Pathways for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Upaya has partnered with XLRI Jamshedpur, one of India’s premier management institutes, to empower and educate the next generation of social business leaders. The partnership establishes a free flow of ideas, learnings, and best practices between Upaya and XLRI faculty, students, and alumni.

“This collaboration will allow Upaya staff and partners to engage in knowledge sharing in the area of social business and finance, mentor students through lectures, open up internship opportunities for those having specific interests in the domain of inclusive business, as well as contribute unique content to the XLRI curriculum on social finance and impact investing,” said XLRI’s Dr. H. K. Pradhan.

Upaya will also create new channels through which XLRI student and alumni-led initiatives can be considered for angel funding and technical support as part of theLiftUP Project.

“XLRI Jamshedpur has long been a respected pioneer in the field of social business, and Upaya sees this collaboration as a great opportunity to further that work,” said Sriram Gutta, Upaya’s Director of Business Development. “I experienced first hand the passion of the students, and I expect this partnership will allow us to harness that passion as the graduates move into their careers,” Gutta said.

For more information about XLRI Jamshedpur, please visithttp://www.xlri.ac.in/

Sriram Gutta Shares Experiences, Insights at Acara Summer Institute

On June 20th, Upaya's Director of Business Development Sriram Gutta spoke with participants in the Acara Summer Institute about many of the operational challenges young entrepreneurs face in launching a new social venture. Drawing on his work with Upaya, as well as his role as a co-founder of Mobile Medics (now part of the Piramal Foundation), Gutta emphasized the importance of pilot testing a concept with pre-defined success metrics in place.

“No matter how experienced they are, every entrepreneur needs to go through a period of experimentation and refinement before they can think about scale,” said Gutta, “and before a pilot is launched, the team needs to establish a common understanding of how success will be measured.”

“Young entrepreneurs often make assumptions about how their model will work without ever testing those assumptions,” he said.

Over the course of the intensive nine-day program, participants from two US and five Indian universities are brought together for working sessions, workshops, panel discussions and presentations of their models. Participants include a wide variety of entrepreneurs focused on issues such as clean water, sanitation, energy, public health, and food and agriculture.

The Summer Institute is organized by Acara, a program of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment (IonE). The Acara Institute was founded by experienced corporate and university professionals in 2009 and has since become a formal program of IonE. Acara's mission is to provide the infrastructure, education and awareness to find sustainable solutions, and then to assist in implementation where possible.

Global Firm K&L Gates to Provide Legal Services to Upaya

We would like to thank the global law firm K&L Gates LLP for supporting Upaya's growth through an in-kind contribution of legal services.

For more on K&L Gates, click here.

India Development Service Supports Upaya's LiftUP Project

Upaya is proud to announce it has received funding from the Chicago-based India Development Service (IDS), a nonprofit, non-political, and secular organization supporting economic and social development in India.

Varsha Pancholi, IDS Board Member, recently met with Upaya's Sachi Shenoy and Sriram Gutta, and visited Samridhi's operations on the outskirts of Lucknow. "I was really impressed with the level of motivation both Upaya and Samridhi have in working with the ultra poor," said Pancholi. "I know they all could choose an easier route in life but choose to do this."

IDS supports small grassroots development projects under various categories like income generation, education, health care, environment and disaster management across India. These projects emphasize self-reliance, accountability of project coordinators, and a strong sense of ownership for the beneficiaries. Careful prior monitoring and ongoing dialogue with the projects have been the mainstay of IDS project support.

“We are pleased the IDS board saw in Upaya the same potential it has seen in many other successful early-stage organizations,” said Upaya Executive Director Sachi Shenoy. “Not only will IDS’s financial commitment allow Upaya to support early-stage businesses through the LiftUP Project, but we will also have the opportunity to draw from the insights and experiences of IDS leadership as our own organization continues to grow,” Shenoy said.

Since 1974, IDS has given over $ 1 million in support to over 150 projects across India and remains a catalyst to new projects every year. For more information about IDS, please go to www.idsusa.org.

Upaya Joins Global Washington

Upaya is pleased to announce the organization has joined Global Washington, a coalition of Washington nonprofit organizations, foundations, businesses, academic institutions and corporations working to improve the economic, social and environmental conditions of the world’s poorest people.

"Upaya has undoubtedly benefited from the supportive environment for organizations focused on poverty alleviation in Washington, and membership in Global Washington is an opportunity to further grow that community," said Steve Schwartz, Upaya's Director of Strategy & Operations. "We are excited by the opportunity to connect with like-minded businesses and peer organizations who share our values, and hope that together we realize our goal of creating pathways out of poverty for the very poorest," he said.

Global Washington is a broad-based membership association that promotes and supports the global development sector in the state of Washington. Composed of non-profit organizations, foundations, businesses, government and academic institutions, our members work collectively to build a more equitable and prosperous world. Global Washington convenes members to generate new opportunities for growth, strengthens member organizations to increase their impact, and advocates across key global development issues at the local, national, and global level.

For more on Global Washington, click

here

.

Upaya Presents at the Social Venture Network 2012 Annual Gathering

Upaya Executive Director Sachi Shenoy presented on Building Markets & New Solutions to Fight Poverty at the Social Venture Network 2012 Annual Gathering on April 20th.

The interactive session explored "innovative  and high-impact approaches to alleviating poverty, building markets and creating lasting economic justice solutions," giving Sachi an opportunity to discuss Upaya's evolution and the approach of the LiftUP Project with SVN members from across the United States.

Upaya Social Ventures's Executive Director Sachi Shenoy presenting at the Social Venture Network 2012 Annual Gathering

"I was really impressed with how engaged everyone was and how many organizations in the audience had thought of these issues -- such as investing in small, grassroots business -- at a deep level," said Sachi after the session, noting that almost half the session was a good debate among participants. "I was especially excited by the number of attendees who were interested in social metrics, and feel like a lot of good ideas were exchanged," she noted.

Announcing The LiftUP Project: Jobs As The Pathway Out of Extreme Poverty

With the goal of developing robust enterprise solutions to combat the problem of extreme poverty, Upaya Social Ventures is proud to announce today the LiftUP Project,  a 24-36 month social business accelerator program for very early-stage, ultra poor-focused social enterprises. 

Demonstrating a strategy and commitment to serve the ultra poor (understood to be households living on less than $1.25 a day), social businesses selected for the program will have access to a supportive environment where they receive the funding and guidance to develop their business models.  In 2011, the LiftUP Project will focus on businesses that will provide formal, steady employment for over 1,000 ultra poor families across states in North India considered the poorest in the country. 

"Too often we've seen good ideas with the potential to create real change 'die on the vine' because the entrepreneurs did not have access to the tools, skills, resources, and network connections that allow any business to scale," said Sachi Shenoy, Executive Director of Upaya Social Ventures.  "Through the LiftUP Project, we've created a way for early-stage entrepreneurs to have access to professional management consulting services and flexible financing structures necessary for their long term success."

The LiftUP Project works with an early stage idea and transforms it into a proven concept, one backed by stable in-field operations and social outcomes data, poised for scale and replication.

"Upaya was founded on a vision of a world in which everyone can live a life of dignity and not struggle to meet their basic needs," said Melissa Lehman, Upaya Social Ventures's Board President.  "What is so exciting for us about the LiftUP Project is the chance to support a new generation of entrepreneurs as they create opportunities for the millions of families to escape that struggle."

For more information on Upaya and the LiftUP Project, click here.

Upaya Teams Up With Jolkona To Address Basic Needs Of The Ultra Poor

Sharing a commitment to the eradication of extreme poverty and a fundamental belief in transparent philanthropy, the Jolkona Foundation and Upaya Social Ventures have agreed to a fiscal sponsorship arrangement that will empower Upaya to connect donors directly to social entrepreneurs working in ultra poor communities.

"We're very excited to be partnering with Upaya as we feel the team's ability to demonstrate the outcomes of their activities closely mirrors our core values," said Jolkona CEO Nadia Mahmud. 

The Jolkona.org platform was built to connect donors with a variety of global philanthropic opportunities, and requires participating organizations to show the impact of supporters' contributions.  These fundamentals made for a natural fit with Upaya, where the aggregation of social outcomes data provides donors with a clear snapshot of how their support of an individual project is creating change.  Every donor who gives to an Upaya project through Jolkona.org will be able to track the progress of initiatives they support through their individual giving portfolio on the website.

"For Upaya, partnering with Jolkona is a great way for us to create deeper connections between supporters and the work they're contributing to," said Steve Schwartz, Director of Strategy & Operations for Upaya. "The relationship also challenges us to hold ourselves to a higher standard of transparency and authenticity in our interactions with donors."

Through the agreement, Upaya will be classified as a project of the 501(c)3 Jolkona Foundation and thus be able to receive tax-deductible contributions designated for its work.  Upaya will maintain independent operations through its own entity and management, while reporting quarterly to the Jolkona Board of Directors.  All of Upaya's financials will be reported on Jolkona's annual IRS 990 filing throughout the term of the agreement.  For more information on the relationship and variance power, click here.