Indian School of Development Management initiates dialogues on Development Management for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

New Delhi: Indian School of Development Management (ISDM), a pioneering institute committed toward developing and strengthening the domain of Development Management separate from the tenets of business management, kick-started its annual flagship Development Management Day virtually today. The theme for this edition is ‘Target 2030: What Matters’ and aims to initiate dialogues on Development Management for achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The two-day event aims to bring together social sector stalwarts highlighting the need to focus on the development sector, by collaborating critical voices, and significant stakeholders that drive the Development Management agenda forward in a purposeful way.

Delivering the inaugural keynote address on ‘Empowering India’s Demographic Dividend for Enhanced Social Capital’ at the event, Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder, Infosys said, “When I see the youth of India, I see the opportunity to re-think the development model. Every aspect of the 20th century growth model has left disparity in income, issues about climate change and many inequities. We need to come up with a development model which is equitable, inclusive, sustainable and affordable. India has a big role to play in this.”

Re-iterating India’s global role in the 21st century, he added, “India has a big role to play in driving change in the 21st century. We can be a role model in sustainable consuming rather than consuming to be a growth economy.”

Further, at the event, Mr Ravi Sreedharan, founder ISDM stated, “This time is imperative to focus on the role of the development sector to accelerate SDGs 2030. At ISDM, our focus remains to prioritise, break down and possibly succeed at executing our role in honing the next generation of socially responsible individuals through effective partnerships with ecosystem organisations and build a world class institution which is one of its kind.”

The first day also featured an insightful panel discussion that underlined the need to build a robust talent pool to achieve SDG goals by 2030. Moderated by Ingrid Srinath, Director for Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy, Ashoka University, the panelists included Amit Chandra, Philanthropist, Managing Director, Bain Capital Private Equity; Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder & Chairman, Harappa; Founder & Trustee, Ashoka University; Founding Dean, ISB and Shaheen Mistri, Founder & CEO, Teach for India.

Speaking on the panel discussion, Amit Chandra said, “We need to invest in building training programs for leaders in the social sector. Unless we have a social sector, which has leaders who are as well equipped with skills and tools as the leaders in the corporate sector, we cannot ask not-for-profit organisations if they are performing optimally.”

As the flagship event progresses, Day II will see the launch of two significant programs including Women on Boards that will focus on gender-based diversity and inclusion in the social sector, and the Centre of Philanthropy for Social Justice that will undertake in-depth examination of data on dimensions like education, job-market outcomes across spheres and people coming from the marginalised sections of these social categories are directly impacted.

Every year, ISDM celebrates the last week of January as ‘Development Management Week’ where stakeholders including Social Purpose Organisations, philanthropists, donor organisations, academicians, CSR groups, and most importantly, youth come together to discuss pertinent issues facing the sector and spotlight the need for using management principles towards achieving sustained impact at scale.