Celebrating 75 Years of Independence and 25 Months of Impact Post
Issue #25 | Tue, Aug 16, 2022
It's quite a thrill to present the 25th Edition of The Impact Post. It was in the summer of 2020, in the middle of the first wave of the Covid Pandemic - that it struck us that even though we are not being able to connect physically, we still needed to connect.......as they say, "The show must go on". And it has been going on with your love, blessings and feedback. Over the period, we have tried our best to ensure that through this monthly newsletter, we keep you abreast with the best (of social impact reads/videos) and latest (news of relevance in the social impact sector), besides sharing snippets of our own work. Over this period, our service deliveries have also grown to all parts of the country.
At this milestone life stage of THE IMPACT POST, I am happy to share with all of you an internal initiative at NuSocia, what we lovingly call as NuSocia Cares. Under this program, which is to take care of our team's Social, Physical and Mental health - there are three initiatives - a) A matching-support from Organisation to a charity contribution being pledged by any employee; (b) Reimbursing 50% of employee annual spend on gym/yoga/mental wellness and (c) Pledging to undertake up to two pro-bono consulting assignments per year, for NGOs for whom the need is real and affordability is an issue.
On that note, we would like to dedicate this special 25th edition with resources that you can put to use- ranging from M&E in social impact projects to a compilation of livelihood projects.
We at NuSocia sincerely hope that with your input and support, the newsletter shall continue to add value to you and your work. In case you want us to add any of your friends or colleagues to the emailing list - do let us know, as well.
Spotlight
1. Measuring Impact in Difficult Terrain !
Responding to communities in need post-disasters has been an integral part of the Tata group's community work. Tracing efforts right from the rescue and rehabilitation of refugees in 1947 to address pressing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tata group has always been at the forefront of coming up with deep-impact initiatives. In 2014, a dedicated Disaster Management team was formed as a part of the Tata Sustainability Group (TSG) at Tata Sons, which also put in place a robust 'Disaster Response Framework'. Recently, NuSocia got the opportunity to undertake an impact assessment of one such initiative, where skill development efforts were undertaken for communities impacted by Disaster. The assessment was launched in parallel at four locations of Uttarakhand, J&K, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The project was spread across 18 locations and touched the lives of 5737 learners.
NuSocia conducted the analysis in a three-fold approach at the community level, at the beneficiary level, and at the organisation level and curating inputs for scalability. Tracking down past learners of the program was the biggest challenge especially given the terrain. In places like J&K, people have changed phone numbers also. Such challenges, along with others like language barriers, were effectively managed by the NuSocia team leveraging the diverse team and its extended networks along with support from the client's team. It was heartening to note that 2 in every three learners had got the opportunity to get dignified income in the formal sector after the training. The analysis team provided various suggestions to the client team for improving the efficacy of the program, and these were well appreciated. Such powerful initiatives are a delight to work with as one gets to see the impact which is already changing lives.
2. Monitor to Learn and Improve
The purpose of monitoring and evaluation in any social impact project is to apply knowledge gained from evidence and analysis to improve outcomes and ensure accountability for the resources used to achieve them. DEVYANI SRINIVASAN, an expert in the M&E domain, says that learning is paramount to ensuring that M&E is effective and of maximum benefit.
Recommended Reads
Chimpanzee Politics and Climate Change by RUCHIR AGARWAL. Ruchir is a senior economist in IMF’s Research Department. In this article, he explores lessons from animal kingdom about ourselves and human fight against climate change. READ MORE
How to Respond to Tragic Reality while doing field research by HIMA ABDULLAH. Hima is a Research Consultant at NuSocia. In this article ,she deliberates on the often felt and mostly neglected topic of what to do when as a field researcher in social space, you hear some really moving stories of individuals or communities. READ MORE
Not to Reinvent the Wheel by GIZ. The project Enhancing Rural Resilience through Appropriate Development Actions (ERADA) is part of the Corona Immediate Programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India. This publication is a compilation of successful livelihood models from rural India. NuSocia is proud to have been associated with GIZ in another project and would like to compliment the GIZ India team for undertaking meaningful social impact work in India. READ MORE
I would be keen to hear back. Do let me know with a revert email which is the section you liked the most and why. Your feedback and suggestions to make this newsletter more meaningful and insightful are welcome and keenly awaited.
Regards,
Manju Menon
Co-Founder & CEO, NuSocia