Social Entrepreneurship Conclave kicks off at XLRI, women Changemakers voice their concern

Jamshedpur�, Feb 8: SIGMA, the social initiative arm of XLRI, kicked off 3rd Social Entrepreneurship Conclave today with Chetna Gala Sinha, the founder of the Mann Deshi Foundation, inaugurating the event and delivered the key-note address.

In line with this year�s theme- �Women Changemakers in Social Sector�, there were 3 sessions held on the first day, covering the sub-themes of �Entrepreneurship for Transforming Education�, �Restoring Disempowered Lives�� and �Strengthening the Grassroots�� The conclave aims to celebrate, showcase, and learn from women social entrepreneurs and their ventures, and to create a platform for knowledge-sharing and partnerships.�
The keynote speaker Chetna Vijay Sinha has been an active participant for socially and economically empowering rural women. She is the founder of India’s first bank for and by rural women – Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank. She spoke about how women change-makers follow the Mantra – My courage is my capital.

She added how poor solutions cannot be sold to poor people. This was followed by 3 panel discussions on the topics – Entrepreneurship for Transforming Education; Restoring Disempowered Lives; and Strengthening the Grassroots. The speakers for first panel were – Dr. Urvashi Sahni, founder and President of Study Hall Foundation; Nikita Ketkar, CEO of Masoom; and Dr.Lalitha Iyer, Founder Trustee of PlusTrust. The panel discussed about how the existing curriculum design should be revamped and how bringing the adult education to the forefront can help adults take up skilled jobs. Bridge courses was one of the initiatives discussed where people who have dropped out of school early, can still get opportunities to complete their education through these courses.
The speakers for the second panel were – Smarita Sengupta, Founder of Destiny Reflection; Sonal Kapoor, Founder Director of Protsahan India Foundation; and Sohini Bhattacharya, President and CEO of Breakthrough. The panel discussed about women, children and transgenders who are at the risk of exploitation, discrimination and trafficking.�
The speakers of the third panel were – Sumita Ghose, Founder and Managing Director of Rangasutra; Mala Roy, Program Leader of CInI; and Dr. Madhu Saran, President of Hand-in-Hand India. Their discussion revolved around sustainable solutions towards employment of youth and India’s skilled and unskilled workers.