Written By Judah Mathew Oommen The Rebuild India Fund organised a workshop in Bengaluru for community-led NGO partners last week. The four-day workshop brought together 18 grassroots NGOs from nine states and its aim was to develop the institutional capacity of people working with marginalized communities. The Rebuild India Fund comprises 74 organizations that are collectively impacting the lives of over six million people across India. Over the next 5 years, Rebuild is working on supporting 500 community-led NGOs in building their resilience. These organizations have been affected by the pandemic and have limited access to funds. Grassroots organizations and leaders attending the workshop are enhancing the dignity of persons with disabilities, diverse ethnic groups from underserved regions across the country and Bahujan communities in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. At the School of Ancient Wisdom in Bengaluru, sessions were held on managing compliance, fundraising, well-being and the creation of safe and inclusive workspaces. Discussions on inter-sector collaboration were held. Pushpa Aman Singh, founder of Guidestar India; G Kartikeyan, founder of the Sristi Foundation; and Nandita Pradhan Bhatt, director of the Martha Farrell Foundation, as well as team members from Dasra were among those who led the sessions. The Rebuild India Fund is an initiative by Dasra to catalyze India’s strategic philanthropy movement and transform a billion lives with dignity and equity. The leaders also shared their personal journeys and learnt that the contribution to India’s GDP by the non-profit sector is comparable to that of the defense sector. Manohari Doss, director of the Institute of Self Management, spoke on what inspired her to evolve her organisation from working only with Low-Income Groups to marginalized groups such as Dalits. Commenting on the workshop she said, “The content is very good and it is the need of the hour. This workshop is a refreshment for me as I got insights from other NGO leaders and this is highly appreciated. As a group we got a chance to network. We should keep the network we have created.” Nandita Pradhan Bhatt said, “We are so different, but we come together. This is the Rebuild India Fund! We forget our differences and come together to find a common purpose. Rebuild’s sustained support for five years makes us resilient for these five years and beyond.”
