Entrepreneurship has emerged as a response to the changing paradigm of employment in the country. In the current scenario, for entrepreneurship to reach its true potential, and become a viable option for all, there is a need to focus on the shift towards an accelerated rate of entrepreneurship that is more inclusive in nature. A systemic shift toward ‘Inclusive Entrepreneurship’ can bring about transformative change by redefining how people find meaningful employment, building on the same paradigm Development Alternatives and ‘la Caixa” Foundation in India are together hosting JobsWeMake in New Delhi on 24th November,2022.
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Evidence from the ground suggests that it is the everyday people-the microentrepreneurs, who are at the forefront of solving the job crisis. “If only 3 enterprises are set up in each block in a week, across the country, and each enterprise creates just 3 jobs, the inclusive entrepreneurship approach presents a realistic yet powerful figure of generating dignified employment at scale for more than 10 million individuals in 3 years,” Shrashtant Patara, CEO, Development Alternatives.
Development Alternatives (DA), through social innovation, has pioneered new approaches to entrepreneurship-led job creation in India. Work4Progress (W4P), a flagship programme of ”la Caixa” Foundation and DA, has been operational with a network of actors across India, Peru, and Mozambique since 2017 to empower micro-entrepreneurs to create dignified jobs through the power of collective intelligence.
The Work4Progress program has co-created several innovative models with the community, including Kaun Banega Business Leader Competition to create a buzz around entrepreneurship, Brave Spaces for women and Comic workshop to help women realise their innate strengths and a coalition platform to bring together critical stakeholders at the district level to build local entrepreneurial ecosystems.
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“The concept of Inclusive Entrepreneurship, or SAMUDYAM, stems from the belief that an ecosystem of actors can induce shifts in the system, not just by addressing the problems of livelihood insecurity and widespread joblessness, but addressing systemic issues that caused them in the first place,” Kanika Verma, Associate Vice President, DA.
12 million young Indians are entering the workforce every year. Such is the nature of the Indian economy that over 80% of employment for these job seekers, particularly women, will have to be created by grassroots entrepreneurs.
JobsWeMake is a platform for learning and exchange of knowledge on Inclusive Entrepreneurship-led job creation. It aims to create spaces for connecting voices from the ground to meso-and macro-level stakeholders and identify opportunities with individuals and organisations to drive innovation and impact for entrepreneurship at scale. JobsWeMake 2022 will take the audience through the uniqueness of the platform, by way of experiential learning through a Chaupal with entrepreneurs, and interactive spaces for learning towards a better future.
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About Development Alternatives
Development Alternatives (DA) is a premier social enterprise with a global presence in the fields of green economic development, social empowerment and environmental management. It is credited with numerous innovations in clean technology and delivery systems that help create sustainable livelihoods in the developing world. DA focuses on empowering communities through strengthening people’s institutions and facilitating their access to basic needs; enabling economic opportunities through skill development for green jobs and enterprise creation; and promoting low carbon pathways for development through natural resource management models and clean technology solutions.
The “la Caixa” Foundation of Spain, the third largest foundation in the world, promotes diverse social, economic, cultural and ecological initiatives to foster sustainable development across the world. “la Caixa” has worked for more than 110 years in contributing to the advancement of society and the progress of individuals, with a special emphasis on those who need it most. Its main strategic objective is to provide opportunities and fight inequalities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America through programmes that contribute to the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
About Sanudyam
Sam-udyam (inclusive entrepreneurship) is a phenomenon that is characterized by the systemic change that enables under-represented groups such as youth and women to access entrepreneurship opportunities, thereby leading to social inclusion, quality employment, and sustainable economic growth.
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About Work4Progress
Work4Progress India Annual Workshop is envisioned as a platform for learning from ‘collective intelligence’ of change makers and experts in the field of entrepreneurship. The workshop will take the audience through the uniqueness of the social innovation approach for entrepreneurship-led job creation. Launched in India in 2016 and subsequently in Peru and Mozambique by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, it seeks to create new employment opportunities that are inclusive in nature and systemic by design. Social innovation is at the core of the W4P approach and brings with itadvanced tools and methodologies for key processes of listening, co-creating, prototyping, and accelerating. In India, the W4P programme has two networks. The network led by Development Alternatives (DA) joined the W4P platform in November 2016 and is currently in the acceleration phase with national-level partners Transform Rural India Foundation and Rang De. ActionAid Association (AAA) and its partner in Spain, Alianza por la Solidaridad joined the platform in March 2020 and have been joined by Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Sai Jyoti. The W4P India programme is operational in 345 villages across Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand, and works with socially and economically disadvantaged communities, women and young adults.
