Pradeep Patra
National Foundation for India (India)
"The timing to hold the Global Summit on Community Philanthropy could not be any better. In the Indian context at least, we are at a time when funding for social change is gradually drying up, support from new donors such as the private sector is not really emerging for social justice issues, and an increasing number of government policies and regulations for the development sector are proving to be more constraining rather than facilitating in nature. At such a time, any initiatives to strengthen community philanthropy and/or social justice comes as a huge encouragement for thousands of small organizations and individuals. I sincerely hope not only for the Summit’s aims being realized in the coming years, but also that similar initiatives such as this Summit spring up both at national and regional levels.
We at the National Foundation for India (NFI) work with an extraordinary group of grassroots organizations, community initiatives and individuals to bring about social change in some of the most neglected areas of India. Community philanthropy is a tremendous tool to further people-led development and my last few years of work with NFI has provided me with many insights on that front. Personally, this will be my first time in such a large forum around the theme of community philanthropy and I am very excited to be part of it. Not only am I looking forward to hearing and learning from experts from around the world, I would also love to share my limited learning with them. I’m specifically looking forward to discussions exploring possibilities of coalitions and partnerships (both formal and informal) around resource mobilization and advocacy at the policy level for community philanthropy and social justice."
People Behind the Summit
