Deepa I.’s Post

Financing climate solutions isn’t cheap. In India, for example, the transition to renewable energy will cost USD $293 billion. And while there are many decarbonisation solutions to achieve net-zero with this funding, there is a risk that the solutions may perpetuate harm to people and the planet. As a Board Trustee of Forum for the Future, I’m happy to see their emphasis on financing the transition to renewable energy, with a focus on advancing health, meaningful livelihoods, economic, and infrastructure resilience. Check out this interesting read in Business Insider from Forum's Managing Director in India, Anna Biswas (née Warrington), as to how we can broaden the impact of funding beyond decarbonisation and create an energy system that is ecologically safe and socially just. https://ow.ly/kLKw50RuXNN

Nabiha Syed, Sisi Wei, and The Markup: from strength to strength 💪🏾. Excited for your next innings.

I deeply enjoyed last week's #SkollWF 2024 and #MarmaladeFestival 2024 in Oxford. As Aria Florant put it so well: "It feels like being inside google maps: geolocating and triangulating my position respective to thousands of others, and therefore charting the path forward with more clarity."- uniquely across geographies and sectors. Congratulations to all the Skoll awardees; celebrating your work collectively was the highlight. A few reflections: (1) So many folks are iterating concurrently on effective ways to distribute decision-making and cede control, to build participation and shift ownership + power. For example: Raj Gilda introspected on his journey with youth stewardship councils at Lend A Hand India, while Hayley Roffey and the Global Fund for Children shared their work pioneering grant-making models led by and for young people. At the same time, I attended sessions curated thoughtfully by The Bridgespan Group and Pritha Venkatachalam on community-driven change, featuring SHOFCO, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Swades Foundation, Lwala Community Alliance, and Legado. (2) To this end, struck by a reflection shared by Cassandre Pignon: "Two sub-ecosystems which didn't interact much - social change activists / actors on one hand, and social entrepreneurs focusing on poverty alleviation on the other hand. Is there a lack of common vocabulary? Is this a missed opportunity?" I did perceive common vocabulary around participation, ownership, sustainability, and power, and many leaders like Piyush who defy any categorization - but also key differences (e.g. top-down versus community-driven identification and definition of problems, tradeoffs between scaling out/breadth of impact and scaling in/depth of impact, narratives of entrepreneurial heroes versus grassroots mobilization to shift a system). So many opportunities for further conversation and commitment between global funders trialing participatory and decentralized approaches, the often place-based community-driven change organizations, and folks on the LP side of the table structuring flexible and patient integrated capital to shift systems through new models, particularly in #employeeownership, #healthcare, and #climate. (3) "Path walker, there is no path. By walking, you make the path" - Antonio Machado Thank you to all who made the week so enjoyable over long walks, unhealthy late night snacking, and laughter - Rikin, Esther, Rohit, Piyush, Antaraa, Solome, Yvonne, Edith, Vandana, Noa, Akshay, Sumitra, Mark, David, Lindsay, and so many others for especially fulfilling food and/for thought. Gratitude to Natasha Joshi for co-hosting a delicious Ethiopian dinner together (pic below). And last, to the wonderful Skoll Foundation team for their care and craft. It meant so much to gather and meet some of you in person. Shivani Garg Patel Daniel Tomlinson Debbie Santos Bruce Lowry Ben Pyne Elyssa Lewis Don Gips Marla Blow.

Congratulations, Piyush and SaveLIFE Foundation (SLF) 🙏🏽.

Sharing The Bridgespan Group’s recent case study, which features Capricorn Investment Group and Skoll Foundation’s approach to impact investing across the entirety of their endowment. It has been a privilege to work alongside the Skoll and Capricorn teams on new strategies, systems, and portfolio opportunities for impact-first and catalytic capital.