Last week we met a lot of people working at corporates and foundations in Mumbai. The goal of these meetings was to find out if we can partner in job creating business models in rural India. Ms. Rupa Girish, our Indian consultant in Mumbai, prepared the meetings by doing research and interacting in her network in Mumbai. Her result: a three days schedule with meetings across Mumbai. In a metropole of 22 million people and a lot of traffic jams – also due to the monsoon period – quite a challenge. While Rupa is the key player, I am the talking head.
EdelGive
In every meeting we present our social business with head and heart. Last Wednesday we had an inspiring meeting with ms. Vidya Shah and ms. Naghima Mulla, resp. CEO and COO of EdelGive Foundation, an Edelweiss Initiative. Edelweiss (company for finance solutions) has 4,000 Indian employees and 25% of them are involved in the activities of the Foundation. They give money and distribute second-hand products to under privileged.
Connect with head and heart
Next to this, about 100 employees share their knowledge and skills with grass root level organisations. Especially in finance, but also in strategy and leadership, HR, systems, processes and technology solutions. The Foundation is part of the Edelweiss business, as an employee engagement program. Especially talented staff members are part of the team of 100 people who ‘donate’ their expertise. A program like this connects employees with head and heart. For the benefit of all. You might understand that the 4 of us had a good chat about our common passion.
Maria van der Heijden
