Social Investment: Investing In The Present
“At the end, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who
you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”
— Denzel Washington
ChangeWarrior Tribe:
Lakshay Jain – Grade 11, The Heritage School
Rajveer Singh – Grade 11, St. George’s College
Rehaan Tomar – Grade 11, The Vasant Valley School
Samaira Gheek – Grade 11, The British School
Project Focus: UN SDG 5 & 10
Inspiration:
Social investment exemplifies the proverb “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” Not in the teaching sense, but in helping set up an occupation that supports oneself financially, especially women That’s what our ChangeWarrior tribe set out to do by partnering with Rang De, an RBI-regulated peer-to-peer lending platform where social investors can invest in the development of entrepreneurs & microentrepreneurs including women.
The Underlying Problem:
Entrepreneurs like farmers, shopkeepers, tailors and other micro-entrepreneurs struggle to find financial assistance. Thus, they are unable to break free from the poverty loop as they are stuck with expensive credit in the form of unauthorized microfinance and loan sharks. Eventually, they tend to pile up debts. While many years have passed since the UN designated 2005 as the ‘International Year of Micro Credit,’ microcredit is yet to reach its full potential in practice. At the end of 2021, a study by global TransUnion CIBIL confirmed that more than 160 million consumers were considered to be credit underserved in India. It also stated that approximately 5% migrated to being credit active every two years. These imply that 1) a large percentage of India’s eligible population does not have access to formal credit/loans and 2) if underserved people received credit, they would be able to build on that with adequate support. Another
underlying factor remains that privileged people are not vastly aware of peer-to-peer lending and how it can help grow the economy collectively. This vast pool of ‘potential investors’ needs to be tapped into to enable the creation of a financially-inclusive community of self-reliant entrepreneurs (mainly, women) in India.
The Task At Hand:
In order for social investment to take off, the tribe had to focus on imparting awareness of the benefits of social investment through microcredit. Then they had to convince potential investors to turn into full fledged investors for the Groundbreakers fund — a joint effort of Rang De, Ashoka Innovators for the Public and Ikea Foundation — aimed to recognise and celebrate women-led micro and small businesses with potential.
Team-storming to Action Plan:
Lakshay, Rajveer, Rehaan, and Samaira were excited to be on the hunt for social investors who believed in empowering women-led businesses. Their game plan was in place:
- Information Hunt
The team knew they had to understand this new-age concept of microcredit and social investment themselves in order to bring more people on board. They did a preliminary study and attended a session to understand the subject better. They also interacted with women survivors of human trafficking through the NGO, Kshamata, in Maharashtra to understand the financial plight of women in vulnerable backgrounds. This sensitization helped them further understand the significance of financial freedom through microcredit. - Think Tank In Action
The next step was to get into action: each member would achieve a social investment of INR 10,000. They started by identifying potential people in their networks that they could reach out to for social investment. They prepared a pitch listing the benefits (including return on investment) which they shared with potential investors. They also learnt how to initiate and complete the investment process on Rang De’s platform.
- Call for Action
The team followed a simple plan
★ They pitched the importance of social investment to peers & their parents, family members, teachers, colleagues of parents, neighbours and so on.
★ They explained the investment process and gave interested folks a referral code to make the investment.
★ They followed up with investors to ensure that their investment was done and that the goal of INR 10,000 was reached.
★ They also explained how they could continue the engagement by reinvesting.
Working Around Constraints:
While the plan seemed straightforward, there were some key challenges:
● Explaining to people the difference between social investment and crowdfunding and how social investment was more significant for the economic development of our nation.
● Getting potential investors to turn into full-fledged investors was challenging as the process entirely depended on them.
Project Impact:
While many social impact projects are focussed on what the underprivileged had to do to improve their situation, this project put the onus on the privileged folks. The tribe was not only able to raise the money to be invested in women-led microbusinesses, but they also brought out a new level of awareness that change can be mobilized with our existing privileges. More importantly, they emphasized that change ould happen in the present if we all worked together.
“We believe that to improve the economic conditions of the country, it is essential for everyone to be aware and progressively make changes and efforts to improve it. Collective action is required for economic growth.”- Team Social Investments
The Global Challenges and Social Justice Program by TribesforGOOD deals with many cutting-edge themes and global issues. Hundreds of ChangeWarriors have made a positive impact in their community and built their profile through the program. They have gathered new skills, networked with industry experts and other ChangeWarriors, and found solutions to real world problems, all in a few weeks!
Applications are open for Global Challenges & Social Justice Summer Programs.
