Reflections After Our Inaugural Social Impact Circle in Hyderabad

We just concluded our first-ever Social Impact Circle (SIC) in Hyderabad. The event allowed us to dive deep into the challenges faced by numerous NGOs, with a specific focus on the role of technology and data in their operations. Before diving into the details, let’s begin by defining what SIC is and the goals we aimed to achieve.

About Social Impact Circle ?

Social Impact Circle (SIC) is designed as a dynamic platform to address the challenges of Non-Profits with respect to technology. It engages participants to:

- Learn: Stay abreast of developments in the tech and non-profit sectors.

- Share: Exchange learnings and mistakes related to tech within organizations, promoting a culture of openness and learning.

- Collaborate: Forge partnerships with Tech4Good Solution Providers and other NGO Partners, fostering collective action.

Key Highlights of the day?

• Engaged Audience - We had a turnout of 60+ participants and initially we were mildly concerned about attracting the right audience but were pleasantly surprised. Most participants attended voluntarily, eager to articulate their technology-related challenges and open to new learnings. Remarkably, almost everyone stayed until the end, indicative of the event's value. One participant, Harsha, even traveled from Bengaluru, saying he couldn't wait for the Bengaluru event in December.

• Identification of a clear need - I heard from multiple Non-Profits that - “We have never had this space before”. “I did not know? there are so many NGOs in Hyderabad, we met many like minded people”. “We did not know so much was happening in the tech4good space. I am hearing tools like Glific for the first time.” All of this a clear indication that , inspite of so much work done being in the tech4good space, we need to spend more time and effort to create awareness about such initiatives so non-profits don’t end up reinventing the wheel.?

Event Agenda? :

SIC is designed to be a 4-5 hour event with three components, A learning space, A collaborative space and a networking space.?

Capacity Building Workshop

In the rise of digital technologies, how can Non-Profits brand themselves effectively? How can they position themselves in the digital world, with whatever budgets they have? How can proper branding / communications enable scale? We had Dhimant Chovatia , Founder of Dhriti Communications take this session as one of the speakers for the event.?

You can read more about Dhimant’s experience? here?

Panel Discussion?

I was part of the panel with Vignesh, City Director of Teach For India where we spoke about how Non-Profits can start leveraging tech/data effectively.? Some of the highlights from the session to me were?

• Importance of leveraging data in Non-Profits - Vignesh spoke about Educate Girls on how they leverage a robust technology backend that enables them to see the status of girl child education in every district in India. It also helps in identifying gaps in government data vs actual reality.?
• Unification of data systems is important - In the audience - more than 80% of the audience had their beneficiary as children. It's highly likely that many of these Non-Profits are working with the same groups of children. Are these organizations aware of the multiple interventions each child might be receiving from other programs? A unified data system could provide this crucial insight.
• Technology in itself is not a super power but just an enabler for doing good, in a better way.

Impact Circle?

This was our flagship session. Here, participants broke into small groups to share and find solutions to their tech and data-related challenges. Prompts like, "What tech challenge is your organization facing?" helped fuel the discussions.

Most organizations shared common challenges in the areas of:

- Data management

- Infrastructure limitations, such as lack of internet connectivity

- Communication effectiveness

The spirit of collaboration was clearly visible, with participants eagerly helping one another.

We ended up the activity with one clear actionable from each participant on the step they would take towards their digital transformation..?

Networking and showcase

The third segment of the space was not moderated but an open space for the participants to engage with one another over samosas and tea!?

We had our partners sharing about the benefits that other Non Profits have with respect to solving specific pain points in their organisation.?Apart from that, a lot of connections , friendships were made which made the event more impactful. I had a good time connecting with fellow founders and understanding their challenges with respect to their organisations and we were brainstorming different ideas.?

Challenges & Triumphs

• The event was a resounding success in spotlighting the role of technology in the non-profit sector. However, the tech landscape is vast, ranging from basic email tools to advanced AI for social good. So, how do we zero in on what matters most to our audience?
• We had a turnout of 60-70 participants, a number considered impressive for Hyderabad. We're already brainstorming ways to not just increase attendance but to ensure that every participant adds value to the conversation.

Gratitude

A huge shoutout to our partners and volunteers from EdVenture Park , Aikarthya.India and Teach For India . Your dedication and ownership were nothing short of inspiring!

Thanks to our partners , Project Tech4Dev and Zoho for Startups , for believing in the vision of this event and for the support. We are looking for more ecosystem partners who can support the event. If you're interested - please DM me.

What's Cooking in Hyderabad?

The enthusiasm was palpable, with many participants keen on making these meetups a regular affair. We're all for it and are exploring logistical ways to make this happen. In the meantime, we're launching a WhatsApp | LinkedIn group to keep this incredible community connected.

Next Stop: Mumbai on Sept 9th!

We're hitting the road and our next destination is Mumbai on September 9th. Want to be part of this exciting journey?

How You Can Jump In

If you've read this far, you're clearly someone who cares about making a difference. Here's how you can get involved:

• Spread the Word: Know someone who should be at this event? Tag them and direct them to register at go.EdZola.com/esic23.
• Get Involved: Interested in volunteering, sponsoring, or know organizations or speakers who'd be a great fit? Please fill up the form here and we'll take it forward!
• Connect Us: Know any CSR initiatives or Foundations that fund tech projects/ tech capacity building for NGOs? We'd love to offer them a platform to share their initiatives with a wider audience.