Admissions Closing Soon | Cohort starting from 20th July

| APPLY NOW

CPID

ISDM

Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development (CPID)

The Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development (CPID) is dedicated to catalysing philanthropy as a force for inclusive development through a combination of rigorous research, learning programs, knowledge exchanges and convening diverse voices.

Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development

Our Vision

Philanthropy that strives for sustainable social change by tackling root causes of social and economic inequities and empowering the underserved communities.

Our Mission

  • Knowledge and Research - create and disseminate high-quality actionable knowledge on effective, inclusive philanthropy to inform and shape philanthropic practices and approaches
  • Networks and Partnerships- lead the conversation on social justice philanthropy to strengthen the community of changemakers for sustainable social change
  • Practice - impact philanthropic practices and approaches through convenings, events, workshops, learning modules, etc with evidence generated by the Centre

Our Values

“It is with great excitement that we have set up the Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development at the Indian School of Development Management. Philanthropy in India is at a very exciting juncture with a lot of growth and movement towards more structured and strategic giving. The moment needs giving that is more attuned towards reducing deeper structural and entrenched inequalities and advancing an equitable and just society. We need to create, co-create, trigger and share new knowledge about philanthropy in India. It is our hope that we become a hub of knowledge creation and dissemination on philanthropy for social justice.”

- Latha Poonamallee, Academic Director, CPID

Our theory of change

Philanthropy has immense potential to test new ways of

  • promoting equity, efficiency, and humaneness in social programs
  • bridging the gaps in development.

With autonomy and access to resources, philanthropy can be viewed as society’s risk capital that can be directed towards currently underfunded complex issues, geographies and for solving the fundamental social problems of underserved communities.

We are currently witnessing the emergence of several new models of philanthropy, social innovation and new practices of social purpose organisations for addressing complex social issues.

This calls for the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, and informing and updating practices of a new generation of leaders, practitioners and the academia to enable them to implement approaches to social problem solving in ways that promote justice and equality for all.

Core areas of work

The Centre's objective is to engage with philanthropists, development practitioners, key government institutions, corporate sector and social sector organisations to:

  1. Curate, create and disseminate research on effective philanthropy.
  2. Design viable tools, metrics and learning programs that enhance the effectiveness of practitioners.
  3. Create partnerships and networks to strengthen the community of philanthropists for systemic change.

Key stakeholders

The primary stakeholders for the Centre are:

  • Funders and donors (family/ individual/ retail philanthropy and CSR)
  • SPOs that engage in causes of social and economic inequities and empowering the underserved

The Centre also seeks to collaborate with stakeholders such as development practitioners, intermediary organisations, wealth and family office advisers, impact investors, policymakers, global and local philanthropy networks, platforms and centres and academia.

Our team

The CPID team works at the intersection of philanthropy, behavioural sciences, development management, business management and design thinking to accelerate learning for philanthropists and others in the donor-support ecosystem. CPID works closely with ISDM’s academics team, faculty and partner organisations to develop cutting edge knowledge.

Latha Poonamallee

Academic Director

A professor, researcher, tech entrepreneur, Fulbright Fellow, and thought leader on Management and Social Justice, Dr. Latha Poonamallee is the Chair of the Faculty of Management and University Fellow at The New School, New York City. She is Co-Founder and CEO of In-Med Prognostics Inc., the first company to provide ethnicity-specific neuro assessment reports, biomarkers, and surrogate endpoints relevant to all people, everywhere. Dr. Poonamallee is also the Founder of C-Suite for Justice, a community of senior executives committed to making their organizations more inclusive, just, and equitable.

She received her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

Trisha Varma

Director, Global Knowledge Hub

Trisha comes from a background of market research & data analysis, market strategy, and marketing. She is the founder of a consulting company and previously worked with Procter & Gamble, first in India, then in Singapore. While she lives in Singapore, her heart continues to remain in India. Contributing in some shape and form to social development has been her long-standing desire, and, with ISDM, she hopes to be able to do both – be a part of the development sector in India. She has had some experience working for her alma mater’s social service league, and more recently, with a global marine conservation fund, a migrant workers support group, and an Indian coalition to fight the pandemic and drive change. When not working, she’s deeply engrossed in long chats with her pre-teen and teen, playing with the newest addition to the family of the 4-legged kind, reading, eating, travelling, trekking and organising vacations for family and friends (and herself)!

News from CPID

Work in progress

Annotated bibliographies on social justice and philanthropy

The purpose of this bibliography is to assist researchers and practitioners working in the space of social justice philanthropy to get a concise description of the available research (article/paper/report), evaluation, critical assessments and citations for further research.

Research repository on philanthropy

The purpose of the repository is to enable researchers and practitioners to get quick access to knowledge artefacts such as working papers, reports, articles, etc. on various aspects of philanthropy and social justice.

Other updates

ISDM-CPID Research Fellowship Program 2022

This part-time program is designed to enable researchers to add a social justice paradigm/framework to their existing work on philanthropy, create a cohort of practitioners who pioneer the change from traditional philanthropy to social justice philanthropy and ideate, create, produce new knowledge on social justice philanthropy and related aspects. Under this programme, five fellows will be selected each year starting July 2022 and provided fellowships to the tune of ₹ 3 lakhs for the program duration of 18 months (1.5 years).

A New Era of Giving
A New Era of Giving

In the titled A New Era of Giving, a series of essays edited by ISDM-CPID, thought leaders from across the globe weigh in on the issues and challenges that need to be addressed to make a shift from a charitable model of philanthropy to one that puts social justice at its core. From basic ethical questions about giving to worked examples and innovative finance solutions that have sparked real change, this collection is an important first step towards building a more equitable and inclusive society.

Connect with us

If you would like to collaborate with us to explore meaningful ways to support philanthropy and social change, please reach out to us at: cpsj@isdm.org.in

Whatsapp