Resources

We often hear of the word “movement” in social change but what we have struggled with is the depth of the idea. A movement is much more than collective confrontational action. A movement offers an approach to social change that is different from and complementary to programs and collective impact. It encompasses shared, bottom-up action […]

This is an edited version of an episode of the Cerebration Podcast, a co-learning series hosted by ShikshaLokam in collaboration with the Societal platform team. In this episode, Rohini Nilekani discusses the idea of restoring agency and how to become an agent for change. * From a very young age, I was interested in how […]

Rohini Nilekani is a fierce believer in the power of being an active, participatory citizen. She quips that her friends could get irritated with her Gandhigiri, as she went about picking up waste which people had thrown on the road or requested people to stand in line at bus stops right from her childhood days. Today, […]

This is an edited version of a conversation with Ramchandra Guha and Rohini Nilekani. They discuss how Gandhi shaped his intent and life to fulfil his various goals of individual freedom and agency, a true Swarajya, and how he achieved impact at scale. Many of the choices he grappled with are relevant to us today. […]

Rohini’s speech at the TiE Summit 2020 where she talks about Societal Platform Thinking, and the need for restoring agency to create a more resilient Samaaj.     Namaste, everyone. Thank you to the TiE team for inviting me to deliver this keynote. TiE does amazing work at binding the energy of entrepreneurship to the […]

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s keynote address at eGovernments Foundation’s Connect For Impact Webinar on how citizens and communities can shape our cities.  Recently, I have been travelling from Bengaluru to Kabini a lot in these last few months, and every time I return from the forest to this megacity, Bengaluru, […]

With “Societal Platform”, the billionaire couple are combining their ideas, experience, and wealth to effect change. Nandan Nilekani co-founded Infosys and architected Aadhaar, which now covers 1.26 billion Indian.s Rohini Nilekani isn’t just India’s most prolific woman philanthropist, but she’s also the sixth overall, While Nandan has mastered the art of building disruptive tech platforms, […]

Water is the key sector when it comes to climate change related challenges. It is ever changing and complex, with equity, quality and quantity issues rising routinely. Usually, water issues have to be dealt with locally, in context. For example, even if you planned to bring water from a faraway river to a city, it […]

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s comments at an online event hosted by New America. The discussion was on the margins of the 2020 UN General Assembly to launch a #DigitalDecade to develop open source technology solutions that will strengthen public institutions in countries worldwide. We have reached a tipping point when it […]

If we have to effectively tackle the current and future pandemics, and collectively address climate-related emergencies, flexibility, adaptation and resilience are not just words. They are critical skills that communities must build quickly. The water sector is a good place to innovate in service of this imperative Water is a key sector to overcome public […]