Ms Gitika Goswami, Asso VP, DA moderated a session on ‘Financial Innovations for Resilience’ jointly hosted by National Institute of Disaster Management and DA at the Resilience and Sustainability Summit: Vision 2047, held in New Delhi in January. 

DA and Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation (IMEDF) hosted a cohort from Yale School of Management who are building a comprehensive feedback mechanism for udyaME in understanding the needs of entrepreneurs and developing products in real time.

During the event on 'Empowering Grassroot Startups for Sustainable Development', Dr Ashok Khosla, Chairman, Development Alternatives highlighted that creating jobs requires social capital and this support needs to come from the ecosystem.

Development Alternatives (DA) joined the first formal convening of the Think20 under India's G20 Presidency in New Delhi. DA had earlier in January responded to the Call for Policy Brief Abstract with five submissions in collaboration with the global partners.

Recently, DA jointly conducted a workshop with Vidya Bhawan Polytechnic in Udaipur with a broader focus on participatory learning and knowledge sharing through the Citizen Science approach.

An interactive and insightful Live Q&A took place on 23 December, 2022 between Development Alternatives (DA) Group and social investing platform, Rang De, where Kanika Verma, Lead, Green and Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Associate Vice President, DA Group and Rang De’s Smita Ram, Co-Founder and CEO and Ram NK, Co-Founder and MD conversated on green jobs, innovation in finance, and the partnership in making low-cost and timely credit accessible to rural India’s entrepreneurs.Seeking to understand the systemic shifts created in the ecosystem, highlights from the conversation are as follows: i) Unlocking Innovation in Finance Speaking on innovation in finance, especially in building micro-credit products, Ms Verma remarked that one has to be dynamic and inclusive in recognising the aspirations of an individual. She shared an example of persona-based credit and stated, “DA has identified four personas in its programmes, namely women, youth, seasoned, and inclusive through which the team identifies the aspirations and needs of the individual, and which has also helped the entrepreneurs understand the type of financial products they would like to avail.” ii) Mainstreaming Inclusive and Green Entrepreneurship Micro-enterprises are wired to veer towards green economy opportunities by virtue of their ability to capitalise on local resources and create local jobs. For instance, juxtapose the carbon footprint of a local chips manufacturer to that of a multinational corporation’s, not to mention the number of jobs it creates within the local economy! Another example would be the Integrated Fishery and Poultry (IFPE) model which optimises poultry waste as a resource to reduce input cost in the fishery model. iii) Listening to Nurture Constructive Communities At DA, deep listening has been central to include the voices of communities responding positively to shifts in the new social system. Through co-creating proactive solutions, the entrepreneurs have been spearheading micromovements of change on ground such as

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A two days exposure visit was organised for Farmers Interest Groups and Jal Samiti members. These groups are formed by DA and the exposure visit was a part of their training and capacity building.

During the eighth phase of the MAERSK Suhana Safar Programme, a survey was conducted, involving 197 truck drivers and helpers, to evaluate their behaviour related to road safety practices and necessary lifestyle adjustments for their better conditions.