Mapping Investment Needs: The Rockefeller Initiative

In order to encourage the large Indian Diaspora to invest in sustainable development, and to tap the wealth of resources, human and financial, available with the Diaspora, it is necessary to de-mystify the workings of the social sector in India and to encourage an understanding of development issues and needs.

It is this thought that led the Rockefeller Foundation to facilitate, through a grant, a strategic mapping of investment needs in the fields of: Education; Health; Information Technology; Micro-Finance; and Faith-Based giving for social development.

Grant by Rockefeller Foundation for strategic mapping of investment needs in the fields of education, health, information technology, micro-finance and faith-based giving for social development.

The grant was initiated in 2000. The interventions aimed at exploring innovative ideas in specific areas through the organisation of six high-level meetings in different geographic locations.

In order to have a more strategic and meaningful dialogue and for sharing of ideas, CAF India co- hosted the workshops with key organisations working in these strategic areas.

The regional spread of these meetings facilitated the sharing of experiences among local government, corporate and NGO partners, as well as with academics and media persons involved in the areas for long time.

The meetings were held between July 2001 and March 2003. This collective sharing aimed at providing a map of where investments would be welcome and reflections on what strategies needed to be pursued for attracting investments in these areas.

The Meetings

• Primary Education Innovations in India (Mumbai)
  Partner: Pratham India Educational Initiative
• Micro-Finance
  ( New Delhi )
  Partner: All India Association for Micro Enterprise Development – AIAMED
• Primary Healthcare Innovations in India ( Hyderabad )
  Partner: Naandi Foundation
• Indian ICTs for Social Development
  ( New Delhi )
  Partner: Centre for Knowledge Societies
• Faith-Based Giving & Social Development ( Bangalore )
  Partner: Sampradan Indian Centre for Philanthropy
• Diaspora and Social Investment in India
  ( New Delhi )
  Partner: US Agency for International Development – USAID)