Intent
Our goals this year are rooted in solving problems of poverty and building a world based on dignity. We're keen to share our progress, notably through the Acumen Fellows Program and The Foundry.
The Acumen Fellows Program nurtures leaders committed to dignity, while The Foundry unites alumni driving social change and challenging the status quo.
GOAL 1
Build a committed cohort of social innovators with character and competence, intending to create an inclusive, just, and sustainable world.
GOAL 2
Cultivate a robust fellowship experience for two cohorts, providing tailored coaching to nurture each leader's potential within our committed community.
GOAL 3
Expand and fortify the Foundry space to extend its social impact across India, fostering connections, providing support, and amplifying the voices of change-makers.
GOAL 4
Innovate and introduce new initiatives within the Foundry ecosystem, fostering growth and adaptation to meet evolving challenges.
Acumen
Fellows Program
The Acumen Fellows Program focuses on fostering social innovators which has now evolved to include three immersive seminars and two workshops.
Format of the program
2 x 6-day Seminars In-Person
Virtual Interactions across 7 months
Fellows
36
representing diverse backgrounds and experiences, successfully completed the program this year
Highlights from 2023
10 FELLOWS played a pivotal role by leading fellow-led sessions for their cohorts.
28 COACHES, also alumni of Acumen Programs, played a pivotal role in the growth path as coaches.
16 ALUMNI members to become coaches for Authentic Voice and Immunity to Change, key curriculum components of the program.
2.7/3 FACILITATION RATING effectiveness of the facilitated learnings delivered in immersive seminars.
Impact Stories
Reshaping Aananth's approach to building personal connections
The program exposed Pon Aananth to diverse perspectives, leading to a leadership style marked by inclusivity and active listening. This shift improved the communication within his team and enhanced overall performance. Unexpectedly, Pon's collaboration with fellow participant Shubhra Hanjabam resulted in her joining PINKE Capital's board, showcasing the impactful connections forged through the fellowship.
Pon emphasizes the importance of addressing organizational challenges with sensitivity and awareness and navigating power dynamics effectively. His story underscores the profound impact of leadership transformation on professional and organizational dynamics.
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Nivedita's Transformative Leadership through Vulnerability
Nivedita Krishna, Founder of Pacta, initially had apprehensions about the Acumen Fellows Program, found it transformative. Through the year, she enhanced her organisational capacity, hired effectively, and fostered team accountability. She embraced vulnerability and shifted to team-led accountability. Nivedita introduced learning circles at work and learned to navigate challenges with a diagnostic mindset and not take things personally.
She focused on systemic challenges, making Pacta more credible in policy influence for people with disabilities. The fellowship provided tools for personal and professional growth. Nivedita found a supportive community through the Acumen network, encouraging innovative thinking about impact.
Empowering Lakshmipriya in finding her voice
Lakshmipriya, a government officer initially characterized by timidity, underwent a profound transformation during her participation in the fellowship. Stepping into this learning experience, she found herself challenged to navigate a new space, interacting with a diverse group for the first time. As the weeks progressed, Lakshmipriya successfully carved out a space for herself within the group. The transformative power of this experience became evident after she engaged with the Authentic Voice framework, delivering a compelling pitch to her peers.
The culmination of her fellowship year witnessed Lakshmipriya redefining leadership in the government space and in her personal life. With increased courage and a refined understanding of her capabilities, she emerged as a beacon of change.
Aiding Dilip’s introspective journey
Dilip, a young entrepreneur, underwent a transformative journey with the Acumen Fellows Program. Through introspection and embracing complexity, he realised the challenges within his organisation, Anubhuti, required humility and visionary leadership.
Empowered by Acumen's curriculum, Dilip navigated tensions, assumed new roles, and secured significant funding for Anubhuti. This experience not only expanded his skills but also instilled confidence and accountability, highlighting the profound impact of holistic leadership development programs on social enterprises.
Helping in Niharika's
journey of self reflection
Niharika Jain, a 2023 India Acumen Fellow and the founder of Broomees, embarked on a journey to enhance her leadership skills. The fellowship profoundly impacted her approach to leadership, leading to increased calmness, patience, and a deeper understanding of adaptive challenges.
Niharika embraced collaboration and learning from others, both within and outside the fellowship room, fostering a culture of openness and innovation within her organization and she has seen the attrition going down to less than 5% since the fellowship. She has been able to challenge her default patterns and reflect on the patterns which were roadblocks to running the other organisation. Her journey has been self reflective with its impact being seen on the teams, co-fellows and the organisation in itself.
How Fellows rated the program
We enable the Acumen Fellows to grasp the intricacies of poverty, society and systemic challenges, equipping them to tackle organisational challenges. Instilling confidence and fostering a sense of belonging, we cultivate a community where each member thrives. Our program stands at an average score of 3.5 across these outcomes.
3.5/4
"The Acumen Fellows Program has been a transformative experience for my leadership journey, providing a rich tapestry of learning that goes beyond conventional leadership modules. It has equipped me with a holistic leadership toolkit, allowing me to lead with clarity, compassion, and a commitment to creating positive change."
Shrinivas Kulkarni
Group Vice President
BAIF Development Research Foundation
2023 Acumen Fellow
Inclusivity
We're committed to making the fellowship program more inclusive. This year, we're focusing on making it easier for mothers with young children, who may need childcare, and for fellows from rural or marginalised backgrounds, who might need additional support since the program happens both online and in-person. We'll institutionalise new policies and practices to better accompany them.
Measuring Impact
We carefully design each curriculum with the explicit goal of advancing 12 moral leadership skills. We are actively engaged in an ongoing effort to devise a comprehensive methodology to measure the impact of the learnings facilitated towards the social-innovators participating in the fellowship program.
On the program
Learnings &
Reflections
The
Foundry
The Foundry serves as a community space for visionary social innovators who have successfully completed Acumen Academy’s Programs.
It unlocks access to an exclusive set of resources, including a dynamic community of peers, the prospect of personalised one-to-one mentorship, and the gateway to harnessing both social and financial capital to drive meaningful impact.
110 Social-Innovators
gathered this year
80% Engaged with the
community actively
300
Social Innovators
are a part of the The Foundry
Awards &
Recognitions
Acumen is committed to nurturing and amplifying the efforts of social innovators in India, supported by the dedication of our team and community members.
Unreasonable Asia Pacific 2023 Fellowship
Shriti Pandey, Founder of Strawcture Eco and a 2020 Acumen Fellow, embarks on a journey, receiving invaluable support to scale impact and foster equitable solutions.
Gram Vaani
Investment
Ashoka Green Changemaker Challenge 2023
Acumen's investment in Gram Vaani, led by Vijay Sai Pratap, amplifies the voices of marginalized populations through a community-led mobile platform, bridging information gaps in media-dark regions of India.
The Earthshot
Prize
Meaningful Business 100
(MB 100)
DBS Foundation
Grant Award
Padam Kumar Jain, a 2016 Acumen Fellow, earns recognition for his visionary initiative,' Conserving Seed Enriching Lives', poised to revolutionize sustainable agriculture.
S4S Technologies, co-founded by Nidhi Pant, secures recognition for its innovative use of solar energy to reduce food wastage and empower women farmers.
Rainer Arnhold
Fellowship
The Foundation for Mother and Child Health - India, led by Shruthi Iyer and RightWalk Foundation, led by Samina Bano, is selected for the esteemed Rainer Arnhold Fellowship, aimed at scaling transformative ideas into scalable solutions.
Project Baala led by Soumya Dabriwal, Green Worms led by Jabir Karat, and Swachh Sustainable Solutions led by Gurashish Sahni have been awarded in the 10th edition of DBS Foundation Grant Award, towards sustainable impact towards scale building climate-solutions.
Shiroi Lily Shaiza was recognized as part of the 2023 Meaningful Business 100 combining profit and purpose to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We have 5+ Foundry members who are a part of the MB 100 community.
The Elevate
Prize Finalist
Satyendra Kumar, Co-Founder of Centre for Social Equity & Inclusion, emerges as a finalist, highlighting dedication to transformative leadership within marginalized communities.
We take pride in the recognition our leaders have received from various esteemed organizations, fostering continuous growth and impact in the pursuit of positive change.
Big thanks to the various organizations for supporting our leaders and helping them grow.
The Foundry
Fostering collectives in India
Acumen Academy India fosters an ecosystem for social innovators united by a shared mission to uplift the underserved in India. The Bihar Development Collective, formed in 2019 and funded by Azim Premji Philanthropies, comprises 50+ influential leaders dedicated to transforming Bihar's development landscape.
In 2023, Acumen Fellows from North-East India formed the North-East India Collective, supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, to address common challenges in areas like entrepreneurship, education, livelihoods, health, and tribal rights. This collective responded to the crisis in Manipur by raising awareness and providing relief support, demonstrating the power of collaborative action.
You can read a comprehensive documentation of their efforts here.
The North Star is a dynamic space that unites social innovators for transformative shifts in North-East India. Social innovators include for-profit entrepreneurs, non-profits, and public sector leaders.
Dialogues on the Manipur Conflict: The collective has fostered dialogues with influential leaders like Dr. A.B. Akoijam, an expert in Historical Background and Ethnic Coexistence; Hoihnu Hauzel, journalist and North-East advocate; Rajat Sethi, former Advisor to Manipur's Chief Minister; and Rami N. Desai, versatile author and anthropologist specialising in North-East India.
15 social innovators in the region work towards equitable access to education, livelihoods, health, and indigenous community rights.
The Foundry
Providing access to funds for our innovators
Annually, the Acumen Academy team in India accompanies social innovators in the Foundry with fundraising, providing personalised support to bolster their programs and expand their impactful work across regions or deepen them in their respective communities.
Acumen
Angels
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Acumen Angels offers early-stage capital to support social innovators in our alumni community, enabling them to launch and scale ventures addressing global poverty.
The program targets entrepreneurs at the blueprint and early validation stage, providing critical funding for idea development and business model refinement. Grounded in Acumen’s decades of experience, it emphasizes trust in entrepreneurs' moral character and business competence. This year, six winners were celebrated for their innovative solutions, poised to assess scalability and manage associated risks.
Learn more about the winners here.
Lewitt Somarajan
Founder and CEO
Life Lab
Medoneizo Putsure
Founder
Jome Foods
Samina Bano
Founder and CEO Rightwalk Foundation
Shiroi Lily Shaiza
Co-Founder
NagaED
Shruthi Iyer
CEO
FMCH
Zubin Sharma
Founder
Project Potential
Regional Huddles
The Regional Huddles, key to our community engagement strategy, brought together about 110 Foundry members from diverse backgrounds across five regions. These gatherings facilitated co-creation, experience sharing, and idea generation, fostering deeper connections and collaborations.
25 Foundry members
co-created the gathering towards fostering engagement and strengthening bonds
5 Gatherings facilitated in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kohima and Patna
The Rebuild India Fund champions proximate leadership, supporting interventions enabling community-based leadership. Neeladri Bora and Satyendra Kumar received a five-year grant of INR 50 lacs each towards their impactful work in regions of Bihar and Assam.
RNPF adopts a learning approach to grant-making, offering smaller grants to first-time grantees in niche areas. This strategy supports organizations like ELICIT founded by Lopa and Movement of Scavenger founded by Vimal Kumar, both of whom are Acumen Fellows and working with communities who have been systemically excluded.
Padam Kumar Jain, Founder of Prem Samriddhi Foundation, won the Ashoka Green Changemaker Challenge 2023 for his 'Conserving Seed Enriching Lives' project. Supported by Acumen Academy, Padam enhanced the initiative's impact and reach through narrative and documentation.
Relevance
We must prioritize the diverse needs of our community, including learning new skills and towards building capacity. While the Foundry interventions tend to provide support and connections, we also need customised spaces for specific focus-areas, skill development, and individual needs.
Brave Conversations
We are committed to fostering meaningful dialogue and creating brave spaces for exploring complex topics, building upon our experiences. We want to explore how we can engage the community towards active action through dialogues and creating safe spaces for discussion.
Spaces & Gatherings
Our community's engagement has sparked meaningful collaborations and partnerships, which stem from our spaces and gatherings. We aim to create recurring spaces for the Foundry, tackling common challenges in the development-sector by curating 'Social-Leaders Ecosystems' - a space for leaders tackling similar challenges and also towards nurturing moral leadership skills through 'Leadership Hubs' - a space to practice moral-leadership skills.
Community-Led Design
Committees were formed to oversee various aspects such as venue selection, facilitation, and thematic focus. Themes ranging from the role of government in healthcare to fundraising techniques ensured that discussions were pertinent and enriching.
2023 Foundry highlights
Engagement with Stakeholders
The Regional Huddles provided a platform for meaningful engagement with key stakeholders, including esteemed funders such as SAP Labs and Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, as well as strategic partners like Upaya Social Ventures and TFIx.
The Advisory Committee are members of the Foundry, accompanying the team at Acumen Academy to build the community and the programs towards evolving needs.
Behind the work
A feminist, queer activist, and development professional dedicated to enabling gender justice, sexuality rights, health equity, social inclusion, and youth leadership for social change.
Leading the team at Kheyti that empowers smallholder farmers to earn a steady income through market-driven technology solutions, such as the innovative "Greenhouse-in-a-Box".
Committed to building leadership capabilities for low-income women to combat poverty, providing them with financial, business, and personal development skills to take charge of their lives.
Co-Founder of Chambal Media that houses Khabar Lahariya, India's only all-women rural news channel, which trains and mentors disadvantaged women from remote villages to be professional journalists and produce local news from their unique perspective.
Leading Guardians Of Dreams, an organization dedicated to upgrading and transforming the quality of care provided by existing Children’s Homes, ensuring vulnerable children have a safe and nurturing environment to grow up in.
Meet the team behind Acumen Academy's impactful programs, unleashing and nurturing the next generation of moral leaders in India:
Overseeing the Acumen Investment’s and the Acumen Academy’s work in India
Managing the Acumen Fellows Program and The Foundry initiatives
Delivering the Acumen Fellows Program for cohorts of social-innovators (now transitioned to the global facilitation and training team)
Executing the the Acumen Fellows Program to impart moral leadership curriculum to the social-innovators
Accompanying the community of social innovators to address their individual and collective needs
On the program
Learnings &
Reflections
Partnerning for Impact
We achieve more when we work with our supporters playing a key role in enabling the work of social-innovators across India.
"The Foundry is my professional home. It’s where I can make brave choices. It anchors me. I meet Fellows one-on-one very often and it gives me inspiration and hope. Now imagine that 100x - that’s the energy of the regional gathering. If I had a “find my … ” setting in me, it would beep every time I left a space curated by Acumen & the community - I leave a piece of me, change a piece of me, and grow a piece of me in each of these spaces"
Shruthi Iyer
Co-Founder & CEO
Foundation for Mother & Child Health
2016 Acumen Fellow
Acumen Fellows Speak