Photos

22-08-11 - Inaguration & Program Overview
24-08-11 - Group Photos
25-08-11 - Dinner Ideal Beach Resort
26-08-11 - Valedictory

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Hand in Hand’s Social Entrepreneurship Programme course, co-developed by Hand in Hand and Prof. Kasturi Rangan, from the Harvard Business School (HBS), a leading microfinance expert who also chairs the HBS-ACCION microfinance program, took place in Great Lakes Institute of Management, near Chennai, India from 22-26 August 2011.

Forty-two participants from a broad range of backgrounds including NGO executives, social entrepreneurs, microfinance practitioners, donors, philanthropists, staff from academic institutions, corporate sector, government and Hand in Hand took part in the programme

The course, which combined the Harvard Business School’s case study approach with the on-the-ground expertise of Hand in Hand, enabled participants gain insights into how microfinance and social entrepreneurship can empower people and enhance livelihoods, resulting in social and economic mobility.

“Hand in Hand is delighted to be establishing a flagship executive programme for major players in the development sector by collaborating with the renowned academic Prof Kasturi Rangan, of Harvard University,” explained Dr Kalpana Sankar, the CEO of Hand in Hand India. “This is a unique course that gives executives and managers in NGOs and especially in the microfinance sector, a chance to experience top quality classroom training on social entrepreneurship along with practical field visits.”

Prof Kasturi Rangan of Harvard Business School added, "I have always thought that to understand social enterprise you really need to see it in action. That's why the idea of putting on a course in partnership with Hand in Hand appealed to me. They are a great example of an organisation using social entrepreneurship to improve the lives of the people they work with. So the field visits to see their work will really help bring our classroom learning to life.”

Hand in Hand collaborated with Socient, a Boston-based consultancy, to develop the course curriculum. The five-day programme was held at the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

Apart from India, other countries represented included Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi, Egypt, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, United Kingdom and United States.

The participants hailed from organisations as diverse as the IFC, Platinum Credit (a fast-growing commercial bank, specializing in micro-lending in Kenya), Rooftops International (a Canadian NGO, which also has housing micro finance operations in Tanzania), the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand) and the Swedish Cooperative Center (Zimbabwe). Microfinance practitioners from remote parts of India such as North Karnataka and West Bengal and a value chain specialist from Kenya also took part in the programme.