David Schfran with Desicrew - Fellowship programme 2009
“I worked one-on-one with the CEO of DESCREW SOLUTIONS, a Villgro Incubatee, to scale their business model. My work involved :
1. Development and implementation of a social impact metrics system.
2. Business development, client acquisition and account management.
3. Development of new training modules with HR.
What led me to Villgro was my mission to improve the quality of life of the entire world in a BIG way through for-profit methodologies, particularly through working on growth and trajectory strategy for start-up social enterprises with “green” and BoP focuses.”
- David Schafran has worked in both for-profit and NGO environments across various industries in India, Brazil, and the US. He is a graduate from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Meera Seshadri with Low cost Infant warmer - Fellowship programme 2009
“In Villgro my task was to design and conduct a study that validated the safety and performance of the air flow infant warmer - a technology that was developed in-house at Villgro. In addition, I worked on a project to implement a user needs study that will reveal the role of devices such as the infant warmer within the context of neo-natal clinical care in rural Tamilnadu.
By understanding the varying needs of stakeholders from a health behavior perspective, I hope to address the socio-cultural disconnect and information gaps that lead to poor design of products, lack of trust, and medical negligence of the rural poor”.
Meera Seshadri has a bachelor’s degree in global public health and socio-economic development from George Washington University and 3 years of experience working with the non-profit sector in the USA.
Manish Kumar with SHREYAS - Fellowship programme 2009
“In Villgro I worked on a project called SHREYAS. Working with SHREYAS (a social enterprise) as part of my fellowship at Villgro was a wonderful learning experience! It enabled me to enhance my skills in livelihood enhancement for the vulnerable sections of society, through the strategy of enterprise promotion. The aim of the enterprise is to organize the market in small ruminant rearing. My work has focused on the pilot marketing of this enterprise”.
Manish Kumar is a post graduate in agricultural economics with four years of experience in designing projects, fund raising and the implementation of sustainable livelihood development for rural poor.
Gautam Mazumdar with IR Guard - Fellowship programme 2009
“In Villgro I worked with “IR Guard”, an innovative herbal formulation product used in the poultry sector. Activities, among others, involved developing new marketing and business partners in different regions of India”.
Gautam Mazumdar is a post graduate in business management specializing in international business with over seven years of international work experience in the corporate as well as development sectors across functions. His responsibilities in NGOs, Private sector and Government bodies involved skills development and capacity building for socially & economically disadvantaged for leading a life of self reliance. The strategy was through networking with variety of Governmental and Private Resources.
