Kruti Bharucha’s Post

I have great respect and admiration for Sohini Bhattacharya - not only as a professional but for her as a human being and how she brings herself to every moment and is fully present. I happened to come across this post and it resonated deeply and reflected a lot of what I believe and how I approach things. She articulates it so beautifully - please do give it a read to get a sense of what emotional intelligence in the workplace really means. And what a powerful last line. Have seen people that don’t do well with power - this is such an important one to get right and to ensure you keep your sense of humility, no matter how much you have achieved. Leadership

One of the things that makes us stronger as an organisation is our talent. But, apart from hiring the right people and teams, a big area of investment and focus has been to build out a strong senior leadership team to lean in on strategic decisions, take ownership of org-wide initiatives and collectively work on issues as they arise. We created our *Core Operating Committee* at the end of last year to spread decision-making, ensure that we are able to harness the intellect and judgment of our most experienced leaders and work together to help strengthen the organisation. Here's a look at who our organisational leaders are (in alphabetical order) - all unique in the talents and experience they bring. All united in the way in which they approach our work - driven by purpose, determined to make a difference and all owning the growth and decision-making of the organisation to help us make the right decisions. All aspire to lead by example. Please read through and you'll see why this leadership team is not only special but brings diverse experience and perspectives to our conversations, and that can only help us get to the right decisions for the org. I am so lucky to have this wonderful set of colleagues who teach me, help me think more clearly, help us consider all possibilities and scenarios of how high-stakes decisions may play out and who make me sleep a bit easier at night! Thank you to so many of our donors and supporters for helping us invest in our leadership talent! Ramesh S. Umang Vohra Soumya Rajan Lisa Jordan Peepul Rohit Gawande Amit Antony Alex Tom Kagerer Neelima Karath Nidhi Singh Rumbi Maruza Maitri Trust Anita Kumar Akshay kashyap Samar Bajaj Prachi Jain Windlass Bridges Outcomes Partnerships Dalberg British Asian Trust Echidna Giving Axis Bank Apraava Energy Reliance Foundation

We are so thrilled to have been added to LGT VP’s portfolio! It’s been a journey of learning, sharing, working closely together over the past few months and just so excited for the times to come and so much more to happen! LGT Venture Philanthropy Marcia Parada Neelima Karath Tom Kagerer

This podcast happened around a year ago with Shantanu Deshpande. This was perhaps earlier on in the success of The Barbershop with Shantanu when there were fewer episodes (but each one had already started getting incredible viewership in the hundred thousands). Because Shantanu and I had gotten to know each other relatively well around this time, I went into the conversation with no prep and just anticipating a nice conversation. I remember him saying "So, that was really unscripted but it was good" and I think I said "Wait, did I need to do homework? You never gave me any questions!" :) For many that know me well, you will know that I don't really like public speaking but I have to do it because of the nature of my role. I've become better at it, over time, and more confident. But, smaller 1:1 conversations are what I prefer because you can build on each other's thoughts, spark ideas and get inspired by someone else's POV on the world. When I look at this episode now, here's what I like about it: - It's easy and it flows. There's no Q&A really - it's truly a conversation that got recorded. Neither of us takes ourselves too seriously. Lively faces! - There's a good dynamic here that perhaps keeps the viewer interested in both Shantanu and me. While I'm the subject of the podcast, it's his respectful asking of questions, the sharp intellect and connecting the dots across my responses that probably engages the viewer, too. The back-and-forth, the repartee, building on ideas - perhaps that makes the viewer feel part of the conversation and not just a passive listener. - There is vulnerability and authenticity. There is no seeking of validation, or an urge to send a particular message/image. For both of us, it's a view into who we are as people, that we are comfortable with who we are (well, most of the time), and an honesty about sharing leadership challenges. Perhaps because of the sector (non-profit), it didn't do as well as some of other podcasts from for-profit leaders (mine was at 25K views while others had 70K+). But, what I treasured were two things: - The qualitative comments, messages, LinkedIn comments and people telling other people about Peepul. - The viewership length. I think the relatability and exchange led to many people watching the whole 2-hour long video rather than give up mid-way or early-on. They stayed and engaged. Some of me has changed since then and quite a bit has remained the same. The podcast really helped more people get to know about Peepul, understand more about me as a leader, what I hold close as values, and just that it's OK to just be yourself because that honesty & sincerity is what an audience relates with. Thank you, Shantanu Deshpande for being such a great interviewer. It comes so naturally to you to have meaningful conversations and so impressive the way you ask questions! ALL: feel free to do your bit to increase the views so that we can show that non-profit views can equal for-profit ones!

Want to work with me? This is a great role for someone that is looking for an all-round role, shadowing me and working closely with me on my key strategic priorities, taking the lead in organizational coordination and planning, forging strong external partnerships and helping me execute on our strategic plan. Email us if you are driven, align with our purpose, will work at fast pace, are great at multitasking, are collaborative and positive and have a can-do-anything mindset :)

At the heart of our model is the central idea that *high student engagement leads to better learning outcomes for children*. It's simple and common sense enough but hasn't been explicitly called out enough as a key driver of better outcomes. As thought leaders in this sector, we have worked on a series of articles that talk about this more explicitly - from the lens of what we mean by student engagement, how it will manifest in classrooms, what implications it has for teacher training, how it impacts school culture, and how it can drive policy shifts. Read the first one below - written by Urmila Chowdhury, our Director, Education - that appeared as an Op-Ed in The Hindu very recently! And a special thanks to the following Foundations that helped us clarify our model to really pull out this insight much more explicitly: Mulago Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Nederland Lisa Jordan Peepul Ramesh S. Umang Vohra Soumya Rajan

As we ready ourselves for the Skoll World Forum this coming April, I came across this throw-back memory of an interview from last April. This is an interview with Rippleworks, an organisation that has given us tremendous capacity-building support and tailored strategic guidance over the past year to help us grow. In this conversation, I speak a bit about how it all started, our secret sauce (hint: it's our people :), how we work with government as 'the doer' and 'the payer', and what we had in mind at that time as future plans. Fortunately, the way the plans played out aren't too different from what we had thought! For those that want to listen to a relatively unscripted conversation about Peepul, but with some nuggets that reminded me of some strategic decisions we made, here it is! Leah Hazard Nitida Wongthipkongka Lisa Jordan Ineza Mutimura Rohit Gawande Emily Edwards Shubhodeep Datta Rashmi Pandey Kinjal Sharma Mulago Amit Antony Alex Dovetail Impact Foundation Robin Bruce LGT Venture Philanthropy Marcia Parada Neelima Karath

“Greatness doesn’t come from smart people or intelligence. Greatness comes from character and that comes from resilience and that comes from the ability to deal with challenges and overcome them. And that’s the character that I want the people in my company to have”.

A lot of people meet folks on the Peepul team and tell me “what a great team” and my response is usually “I know, right!”. A funder partner recently asked me how we built such a great team. There’s a lot of process and planning and constant reflection that goes into it. It doesn’t happen magically but here are a few things that I reflected on and thought were the reasons: 1. Believe in people. Truly believe. You hired them for a reason. Now bet on them and give them the confidence that you trust them. 2. Be human. Get to know each person - it shows care, investment, emotional connection. People can see through a facade so this one happens when you are vulnerable and authentic with your teams. And teams will appreciate you more for it and respect greatly that you show that side of yourself. 3. I like the point Adam Grant makes in the Ted talk about humility. I believe that, too. Admit your mistakes. People often expect leaders to have all the answers - tell people that you don’t. That you want them to give you answers and that you will learn, too. I think that empowers them. 4. Have a sense of humour, especially in stressful times. Some people might think you are being flippant - take those people aside and tell them why you do it - eg I do it to relieve the stress and just help breathe easy and realise that the stress will pass. 5. Be there for your team. And tell them explicitly that you will be there. It’s often a lonely journey for a team member when dealing with operational issues or struggling on a project - remind them that you’re there for them if they need you. Absorb the stress as a leader. 6. Role model and set a high bar. People are inspired by excellence (I think). 7. Celebrate the small things. Moments matter. 8. Invest in growth and professional development. I want to grow our talent internally as much as possible, eg., and create new opportunities for each person. 9. Be creative about beyond compensation as the reward and incentive for performance. Eg getting an executive coach for senior team members, thought leadership opportunities, etc. 10. Build a virtuous cycle of a collaboration and supportive culture. Call our people that help each other, encourage and appreciate behaviors where people put the org or their colleagues first, recognize that it’s important to think from a collective lens rather than an individual lens. This helps team members build something together. Much longer list as I typed it all. If I had to pick one, it would be to believe in people. Help them be the best they can be, and more.

Thanks for posting, M S Mahala - and looking forward to working together with Ground Zero on this mandate (and other roles, too!)