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Rohini Nilekani | Want to make a difference? Then initiate it.

Civil Society | Active Citizenship | Jul 5, 2022

Good governance, no matter how you define it, is about more than govt and its institutions. Its about citizens investing and engaging in transformation process.

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Civil Society  |  Strategic Philanthropy

The Architecture of Good Markets

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani in conversation with Naushad Forbes, business leader and ex-President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, for an episode of India Development Review’s podcast, On the Contrary. Along with Arun Maira, the host of the show, they discuss what markets must include, whom they should serve, and the […]
Jul 5, 2022 |

Civil Society

To Fail is to Have Dared

In this interview with IDR, Rohini speaks about why we need to underwrite failure in the social sector, how philanthropists can support failure in practice, and shares some of her own failures as an activist philanthropist. When working on complex issues of social change, failure is inevitable. Yet, people in the social sector are reluctant […]
Jul 5, 2022 |

Civil Society

CSOs: Mirrors, not just handmaidens

When a government limits the freedom of NGOs to criticize, as seems to be happening now, it prevents them from doing what it needs them to do. The world over, it is understood that civil society organizations (CSOs) provide checks and balances to counter the unbridled power of the state and any abuse of that […]
Jul 5, 2022 | Article

Strategic Philanthropy  |  Civil Society

My Philanthropic Journey: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Embrace Failure

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani in conversation with Vidya Shah, Chairperson & CEO, EdelGive Foundation at EDGE 2020. They discuss Rohini’s insights from her philanthropic journey over the years. My work in philanthropy spans different spaces, from groundwater and sanitation, early learning, social justice and governance, to the arts. I have portfolios […]
Jul 5, 2022 |