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When Megha Desai and her family started the Desai Foundation in Gujarat, India, in 1997, they aimed to help marginalized communities.
Today, the foundation is a "philanthropist giant" with programs in nine states, helping more than 500 women and girls per year, Desai tells Fast Company.
But it wasn't always that way. "During those first 15 years, we really wanted to focus on the programs and get them right," she says.
"So we kept our heads down, kept experimenting, and working with the communities we serve to get the program to a place where they would really show results.
Once we realized we had 15 solid programs (we now actually have 30 programs), we sorted out which ones were designed to scale, and which ones were not."
The transition from a family foundation to a public one was "the smartest thing we could have done," she says. "We also knew that we didn't have all the answers. As a public organization, we can work with fantastic NGOs, corporates, and people that bring their experience and knowledge to the table. I think we were a bit naive on this transition being easy."
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
The nation's largest public academic health system is getting a new leader. David Rubin, director of population health innovation at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, will take over as...more
"When products are not tested in a diverse population, there is a reluctance to accept them as solutions," says Tonianne Lisante, a Kenvue scientific engagement manager, in a press release. That...more
Naomi Campbell's brother Nathan took to the runway at a children's fashion show in the Bahamas on Saturday, and he didn't exactly wow the audience. The model, who's the sister of Campbell's ex,...more
"We are dedicated... to nurturing a lifelong experience of fun, of learning, and of engaging with art," Max Hollein, director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, says of the museum's new...more
Foundation: Gates Foundation
"We have seen over and over again that when countries actually prioritize and invest in women's health, they unleash a powerful engine for progress that can reduce poverty, advance gender equality,...more
In 2016, President Trump signed an executive order expanding the child tax credit, a move that cut child poverty in half and led to a 1.4 percentage-point drop in poverty over a year. Two years...more
The UK has backed away from a plan to force messaging apps to scan their users' messages for iffy content, the Guardian reports. Section 122 of the country's new Online Safety Bill would have...more
If you're a toy company marketing to kids, you may want to steer clear of this year's New York Toy Fair. The Consumerist reports the event, which takes place Monday and Tuesday at the Jacob...more
About 60% of African children under the age of 25 live in poverty, according to a new report from the United Nations' children's agency. And that's not good enough, says UNICEF Executive Director...more
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Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Increasing the Diversity of Social Entrepreneurs in the U.S.
One of the most significant challenges to social entrepreneurship and innovation is ensuring a diversity of approaches and participants in the movement. To truly deliver meaningful social change the leaders of the effort must share perspectives of the challenges faced by communities across the U.S. that can most appropriately come from members of those communities. Ashoka, through its All America initiative seeks to increase the diversity of social entrepreneurship practitioners.
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