Episode 19: The middle Road chats with Anu Prasad Founder & CEO of India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS)

Nishant Malhotra Chats with Anu Prasad, a thought leader in the international development sector about her work at India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS). Anu Prasad is the Founder & CEO of India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS), a leading non-profit in India that builds and nurtures capacity and talent in India’s social sector. Before setting up ILSS in 2017, Anu was the founding Deputy Dean of the prestigious Young India Fellowship (YIF) and a founding member of Ashoka University, India’s first liberal arts university.

 

The video version can viewed here.

 

 

List of questions below. 

Q1. Anu, you have a very diverse and rich experience as a leader both in the business and  India’s social sector. Your work experience includes stints at multinational companies in leadership positions and as a Deputy Dean, Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University. You also set up India Leaders for Social Sector. So please do share with the audience your transformative journey as you channelled across various facets of life and work. 

            Also, do share your experience as a woman entrepreneur in the development sector.

 Q2. The ILSS Leadership Program is the flagship world-class initiative of your non-profit. In one of the ILSS videos, you briefly mentioned, “ILSS has been designed as a bridge between senior corporate talent to repurpose their work and to attract talent to the dynamic and expanding social sector.” As a thought leader within India’s social sector, and with your background within the higher education space, please discuss how the ILSS Leadership Program positioned your cohort/ alumni to tackle challenges as potential leaders in the everchanging social sector ecosystem? 

1. ILSS Leadership Program attracts actors from various sectors within the business and development arena.  How does your leadership program coalesce your participants’ different experiences and thinking processes for a common purpose and social impact? 

 ⮚      What gaps do you see among the leadership talent in India’s social sector viz a viz the global space significantly in advanced and high-end emerging economies?

1. How much of this gap can be attributed to soft skills or lack of investment in Leadership development

 ⮚      Impact evaluation plays a pivotal role in driving the social impact sector today.  Going forward, how much importance would you assign to quantitative skills to succeed as a leader. 

 Q3. Fundraising is the most crucial aspect for social purpose organisation, especially during the early days. Therefore, speak about your much-needed fundraising program in a country lacking a sound ecosystem that nudges actors within the development sector.

 ⮚      Do touch upon the tools within this learning program that enables multiple entities to succeed in their holistic endeavours.

 

Finally, we come to one of my favourite topics, quality education and learning for all. For full version please visit The middle Road podcast section here.