To build resilient livelihoods for urban and rural poor in partnership with govt, industry and civil society
Bengaluru, March 19, 2022: The/Nudge Foundation today announced the launch of The/Nudge Institute, a first-of-its-kind development action institute with a long-term commitment to poverty alleviation work. The Institute will work closely with the government, markets, and civil society towards a shared vision of a “poverty-free India, within our lifetime”.
Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai, launched the Institute at a function today in Bengaluru. He said, “The/Nudge Institute is being launched with the momentous goal of working towards a poverty-free ‘India@100’- a poverty-free nation within our 100th year of Independence. I congratulate them on undertaking this challenging mission, in tandem with the government, markets and civil society. The Govt. of Karnataka is already associated with The/Nudge on the Indian Administrative Fellowship program, and we look forward to more innovative initiatives from them. There’s no better time than now to dream of a more equitable and empowered nation, collaboratively charting out the path towards sustainable development.”
A diverse group of 30+ founding organizations and philanthropists have come together to enable this vision, including Mphasis, KPMG, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Omidyar Network India, Binny Bansal (ex-Flipkart), Prashanth Prakash (Accel Partners), Vidit Aatrey (Meesho), Hari Menon (Big Basket) and Govind Iyer (Chairperson, SVP India, Board Member – GiveIndia). Renana Jhabwala (SEWA Bharat) and Samit Ghosh (Ujjivan) will serve on the The/Nudge Institute Advisory Board providing guidance on the direction of the Institute.
The/Nudge Foundation’s work has reached over 14 million lives across 16 states in over 6 years, through its programs across 3 centers. The/Nudge Centre for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (CSDE) has supported skilling and employability of 17,000+ youth, Centre for Rural Development (CRD) has reached 53,000+ poor rural households and Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) has incubated 80+ nonprofit startups who have reached over 14 million lives. CSI is also running programs to boost state capacity such as Indian Administrative Fellowship.
Building on the success and learnings from this work, The/Nudge Institute is being established to play a catalytic role in building resilient livelihoods in the aftermath of the pandemic – drawing from the inspiration of large scale social transformations such as the white revolution and microfinance, which impacted the lives of millions of people in a relatively short period of time, enabling them to participate in India’s growth story.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Atul Satija, Founder and CEO, The/Nudge Institute, said, “As we step into the 75th year of India’s independence and reflect on the decades of progress we’ve made, we renew our commitment to work towards a poverty-free India, within our lifetime, and ensure every Indian lives a life of dignity and fulfillment. The/Nudge Institute is an expression of this pledge.”
The focus of the institute will be on building resilient livelihoods for all, including skill development, job connect, job creation and fostering micro entrepreneurship in urban areas, doubling farmers’ incomes and supporting ultra poor families through the graduation approach in rural areas. Enabling social entrepreneurship and disruptive innovation in the development sector will play a fundamental role in approaching the complex, multi-dimensional challenge of poverty alleviation, from various angles. The/Nudge Institute will partner with government, markets and civil society organizations to scale proven and effective programs and will work to remove ecosystem barriers to scale their impact.
