Oct. 9, 2012

By Charles R. Ostertag

“Innovation plus relevance equals impact,” was the primary theme spoken by Lunch Keynote Speaker Dr. Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande that echoed over the attendees of Give2Asia’s 10th Anniversary Forum on Tuesday, Oct. 2. With four centers for social innovation in operation—the Deshpande Center at MIT, the Merrimack Valley Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Lowell, Massachusetts, the Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship in Hubli, India, and the Pond-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in New Brunswick, Canada—Dr. Deshpande offered seasoned advice to participants at all these centers, or anyone else who wants to change the world.

The initial steps aren’t as easy as they seem: Start with something different. Fund it. Then scale it so that it actually impacts people. Dr. Deshpande noted that the nonprofit world operates with greater impact when for-profit techniques and dynamics are introduced. For example, in the nonprofit world, people in great need will take what is given to them and the project could thereafter be called a success; however, the question of whether the project has real, lasting, and beneficial impact is often unknown or unsought. When applying for-profit principles of transparency, scaling, fluid management, and efficiency, among others, Dr. Deshpande challenges charitable projects to perform like the most successful companies and products in today’s international markets—with the measure of success being the lasting impact on the targeted community.

Mindset is also crucial. Within the context of foreigners coming to India, Dr. Deshpande also cautioned that those social entrepreneurs who arrive on the ground with solutions already in mind often fail when their ideas are actually implemented in Indian communities. Instead, Dr. Deshpande advocated arriving in India with an open mind and detailed knowledge of a problem as the best mentality for success. Then, the solution only begins to take form upon collaboration with the people the project is meant to affect.

For example, at the Deshpande Center in India, participants there recognized that children in many Indian communities often come to school hungry. A kitchen was then developed to feed children. What started out feeding a small group of school children grew into 185,000 meals a day and then to 1.3 million meals a day. This program now receives funding from both the government and private partners and continues to evolve. For example, the program now implements green kitchens and uses detailed logistics such as the strategic geographic placement of kitchens and supply trucks to reach the greatest amount of school children.

Dr. Deshpande also offered beginners in the field of social entrepreneurship inspiration in the event they feel uncomfortable or uncertain taking on the role of a social entrepreneur. Dr. Deshpande noted that beginners newly exposed to a problem ask questions others normally would not ask. Also, beginners think about a problem in a new light that others usually would not. Aligning with the ethos of social entrepreneurship and innovation, Dr. Deshpande reassured those new to the field, or tried and true experts, that innovation and entrepreneurship make one feel empowered, not paralyzed.