Leadership At The Frontline Shapes Outcomes On The Ground
The Frontline Leadership for Social Impact (FLSI) Certificate Program is a three-month training initiative designed to equip frontline professionals at social purpose organisations to transition into supervisory and managerial roles while driving sustainable social impact.
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Unlocking Leadership Potential At The Frontline
Frontline professionals power India’s social sector, yet many hit a ceiling when it comes to growth. With limited access to structured leadership and management training, capable practitioners often struggle to move into supervisory and managerial roles—weakening the sector’s ability to grow its own leaders.
FLSI certificate program helps SPOs invest in frontline talent and support their transition into managerial roles, strengthening the sector’s leadership pipeline from within.
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Effective programs depend on leaders who understand both strategy and execution. Frontline professionals already understand ground realities. What they often lack is structured exposure to leadership, people management, and organisational systems.
As frontline workers transition into supervisory roles, they are not just required to implement programmes but also manage teams, budgets, communication, and stakeholders. Building these capabilities strengthens both individual confidence and program effectiveness.
FLSI is designed by the sector, for the sector. It recognises frontline experience as an asset and builds leadership capability without disconnecting participants from the realities they work within.
From Grassroots Practice To Confident Leadership
The FLSI program blends structured learning, practice-based application, and reflection to support frontline professionals as they transition into leadership and management roles.
The program is designed to enable nominated frontline workers with leadership skills and Development Management capabilities by harnessing their grassroots expertise to lead projects impactfully, contribute to decision-making, and grow in confidence and agency as leaders. This, in turn, contributes to the sustainability and effectiveness of the social purpose organisations.
Understand the development ecosystem, the role of SPOs and the principles that shape development practice
Develop practical skills to plan and manage programs, track progress, measure outcomes and manage project budgets and financial resources responsibly
Strengthen internal and external communication, build partnerships and navigate stakeholder expectations across organisations and communities
Build the self-awareness, leadership capability and people management skills required to lead teams, delegate effectively, and grow as a development professional
Bilingual Learning Environments
Training designed for accessibility; so participants can engage, express, and learn with confidence.
Bricolage
Learning guided by Bricoleurs to ensure continuity across modules and ground concepts in real-world practice.
Mentorship Support Post-Certification
Continued mentorship for three months after the program, helping participants navigate new responsibilities.
Reflection And Progress Tracking
Built-in reflection and tracking to help participants see growth, stay accountable, and apply learning.
Whom To Nominate
This program is designed for frontline professionals in community-facing roles whom organisations see as potential future supervisors or managers.
Please Note: Individuals already in managerial roles are generally not preferred, unless they have transitioned from a frontline position within the last 18 months. A maximum of 4 participants may be nominated from an organisation in one cohort.
An organisation can nominate a participant if they:
What Organisations
Will Gain
What Frontline
Professionals Will Gain
Frontline Leaders Empowered for 15+ SPOs
Faculty & Partners
Haritha is a development sector professional with over two decades of experience in human and institutional development. His work focuses on organisational development, gender mainstreaming, leadership development, and participatory approaches to planning, monitoring, and evaluation. He has worked extensively with civil society organisations and community-based institutions to strengthen systems, build leadership, and enhance program effectiveness.
He previously served as the Executive Director of the Human and Institutional Development Forum (HIDF), where he supported organisations on strategic planning, leadership transitions, and institutional strengthening. Haritha brings a strong commitment to participatory processes and sustainable organisational growth within the development sector.
Justey is a development professional with extensive experience in the social sector, primarily in implementation and management roles with various non-governmental organizations. Work spans diverse thematic areas including education, health and nutrition, livelihoods and skilling, and child protection.
She is a versatile individual who considers themselves a jack of all trades.
Education: Master of Arts in Social Work (specialisation in Children and Families) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.
Kakul has over 20+ years of varied experience, and has spanned across areas of general management, strategy, business development, operations, partnership & program management, and organisation scale up.
Kakul has spearheaded innovative models across sectors such as Education, Telecom, Aviation, Financial Services, and Vocational Skilling. Her projects emphasise impact-based skilling across communities of students, job aspirants and professionals.She led the setup of the Centre for Digital Governance, an anchor agency to operationalise the National Urban Digital Mission, under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. She set up a skills organization in the Allied Healthcare space, getting global skills standards to India. Beyond work, her interests include reading and swimming.
Kakul is an IIM Bangalore alumnus and a certified assessor from Australian Institute of Management.
Kakul has over 20+ years of varied experience, and has spanned across areas of general management, strategy, business development, operations, partnership & program management, and organisation scale up.
Kakul has spearheaded innovative models across sectors such as Education, Telecom, Aviation, Financial Services, and Vocational Skilling. Her projects emphasise impact-based skilling across communities of students, job aspirants and professionals.She led the setup of the Centre for Digital Governance, an anchor agency to operationalise the National Urban Digital Mission, under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. She set up a skills organization in the Allied Healthcare space, getting global skills standards to India. Beyond work, her interests include reading and swimming.
Kakul is an IIM Bangalore alumnus and a certified assessor from Australian Institute of Management.
Naghma has approximately 25 years of experience of working and consulting with Social Purpose Organisations and teaching at reputed institutions. Currently, she is part of the founding team and board of Rubaroo, Hyderabad, Trustee of Had Anhad, Indore, and Director, Social Synergy Foundation, Mumbai. The first two organisations work with adolescents and young people to empower them to be active citizens, whereas the Social Synergy Foundation works with small and medium-sized non-profits in India.
Her field experience has strengthened her teaching both graduate and post graduate students in the Delhi School of Social Work, School of Planning & Architecture, Ambedkar University and University of Pittsburgh. Her forte is designing and facilitating learning experiences. Through her work with Pravah, she has mentored many young people and youth-led organisations across nations.
Shilpa Jhawar is a social entrepreneur with two decades of experience in people and organizational development. Shilpa has done master's in psychology followed by a certificate course in counselling. She has been practicing as a counsellor and coach to a diverse range of professionals and young people both in corporate and development sectors. She has co-founded an organization Had-Anhad working on education and youth development in Madhya Pradesh, she led Had-Anhad for 8 years before passing on operational leadership to the second line members.
Before starting her own social purpose organization, she also held leadership positions in organizations like change.org and Pravah. As part of an HR consulting firm Vyaktitva she has done intense organization and people development work with companies like Bausch & Lomb, Airtel, 20:20 media and many more. Currently, she provides independent consultation mainly in the area of curriculum Design, facilitation, narrative building, individual Coaching & organization Development.
Education: Master's in Psychology; Certificate course in Counselling
Shreyasi is a Learning and Development professional with seven years of experience across both the corporate and social sectors. She began her career at Cognizant, where she designed immersive learning modules and technical documentation for global clients such as Google and Merck. Her work has focused on instructional design, stakeholder engagement, leadership development, and content strategy.
She later transitioned to the social sector, working with organisations such as Dr. Reddy’s and the Antarang Foundation. Shreyasi is currently pursuing a course in Development Management and has received training in Instructional Design and Technical Writing. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring local cuisines, caring for her plants, and experimenting with cooking.
Education: Master’s in Political Science (International Relations).
Simrita is an educator with over 14 years of experience in teaching and curriculum development across diverse learning environments, including private, low-budget, government, and alternative schools. She has taught history and has extensive experience designing, implementing, and monitoring early and primary education curricula.
Her work includes training teachers and school leaders, leading multi-grade multi-level programs in government schools in Goa, and contributing to curriculum design for community schools in Ivory Coast. She has also developed instructional design and curriculum strategies with organisations such as Gubbachi, Guardians of Dreams, and Language Learning Foundation, and authored social science textbooks for publishers including Oxford University Press. Outside of work, she enjoys fostering cats, reading children’s literature, and aspires to live a zero-waste lifestyle.
Education: Master's in History from Delhi University; Master's in Education from Azim Premji University
Vani is an experienced trainer and facilitator with over three decades of work in participatory learning and capacity building. She specialises in designing and delivering training on gender, leadership, communication, and violence against women, with a strong emphasis on grassroots engagement. Her facilitation approach integrates creative methodologies such as theatre and storytelling to build deeper understanding and reflection among participants.
Vani has collaborated with organisations such as the Public Health Foundation of India, Breakthrough, UNICEF, and the Azim Premji Foundation, contributing to training design, research, and large-scale capacity-building initiatives. Through her work with Hitha Resource Unit, she has led impactful programs focused on life skills for adolescents and leadership development for rural women, and has also authored training materials and publications on gender and social issues.
Venkatesh is a development sector professional with over 24 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and additional experience in the corporate sector. He specialises in organisational change, institutional building, and leadership development, with a strong focus on designing and facilitating learning programs, as well as conducting assessments, evaluations, and research. He has worked extensively with social purpose organisations, collectives, and multi-stakeholder platforms, leading capacity-building initiatives for senior leadership, boards, and grassroots leaders.
He is a former Executive Director of the Human and Institutional Development Forum (HID Forum) and brings deep expertise in strengthening organisations and enabling sustainable change. Known for his facilitative approach, he supports institutions in building resilient systems and effective leadership practices.
Education: Master’s degree in Sociology; Law degree; Certified in Organisational Change Facilitation Programme (OCFP).
Nominations Open For Next Cohort
Strengthen your organization by investing in frontline leadership.
Frequently Asked Questions
The entire cost of training, accommodation, and food during the in-person sessions will be covered by the program. Organizations are expected to bear the travel costs to and from the training venue for their nominated participants.
Broadly, the curriculum includes the following themes:
- Leadership and People Management
- Internal and External Communication
- Budget and Expense Management
- Stakeholder Management
- Strategic Project Execution
- Project Monitoring
- Fundraising
- Self-Development
Yes, we are flexible with the minimum educational qualification and age, provided the organization is committed to creating pathways for the vertical growth of frontline workers who fall outside the criteria. However, the current role of the nominee must be community-facing—such as coordinators, associates, field officers, animators, community mobilisers, or outreach workers.
Please note that individuals already in managerial roles are not preferred unless they have only recently (less than 6 months) transitioned from a frontline position.
Given the limited number of seats and to ensure fairness across all participating organizations, we maintain a cap of 4 participants per organization.
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