In this essay from A New Era of Giving, a collection of essays and interviews brought out by the ISDM Centre for Philanthropy for Inclusive Development, Dasra’s Neera Nundy discusses how philanthropic families can play a catalytic role in accelerating India’s progress towards achieving the #SDGs and ushering in a new era of just and inclusive growth.
Impact does not scale on intent alone.
India’s social sector is operating at an unprecedented scale and ambition—seeking to deliver measurable outcomes, manage complexity, and steward public and philanthropic capital responsibly.
What holds the sector back is not ambition or intent. It is the absence of leadership and management capability designed for social purpose organisations.
While business has Business Management and the state has Public Administration, the social sector has long lacked a comparable discipline to build leaders, strengthen institutions, and sustain impact over time.
Development Management addresses this gap.
It equips leaders to build organisations that endure, adapt, and deliver sustained impact at scale—without losing sight of purpose, ethics, or context.
Because social change demands stronger leadership.
A discipline built for leaders of social purpose organisations.
Development Management is a field of practice and learning focused on leading and managing organisations that exist to advance social development.
It draws from management sciences, public systems, and social theory, but is fundamentally shaped by the realities of development work. It recognises that social purpose organisations operate amid multiple stakeholders, unequal power structures, uncertain outcomes, and deep contextual complexity.
At its core, Development Management helps leaders to:
Its role is to ensure that Development Management is not treated as an abstract concept, but embedded in how leaders are prepared, organisations are built, and institutions endure. By shaping leadership pathways, contributing field-informed knowledge, and strengthening organisational capability, ISDM helps establish Development Management as a shared standard for leadership and management in social development.
In doing so, ISDM operates at the level of the ecosystem—supporting the long-term capability of organisations and leaders working toward India’s social development goals.
The beliefs that anchor our intent and ethics
We build leadership spaces where dignity, access, and opportunity are non-negotiable.
We recognise structural inequality and work actively to counter it—across caste, class, gender, language, faith, sexuality, and geography. Equity shapes who gets to lead, whose voices are heard, and how institutions are built.
We lead with humanity—towards others and ourselves.
We create learning environments that honour vulnerability, difference, and growth. Compassion at ISDM is not softness; it is the practice of listening deeply, engaging honestly, and holding complexity with care.
We choose clarity, even when it is uncomfortable.
We question assumptions, redesign what no longer serves, and express principled disagreement when needed. Courage shows up in learning, unlearning, apologising, failing, and beginning again—with integrity.
We act with responsibility, transparency, and accountability.
Justice guides how we teach, research, partner, and build institutions. We value truth, dialogue, and trust—and commit to practices that are ethical, sustainable, and rooted in democratic values.