I was fortunate enough to 'discover' PRADAN after almost a year of searching for the right cause and organization in the development sector that would appeal to my heart and head. PRADAN works with remote, rural communities in Central and Eastern India, helping them come out of intergenerational poverty and realize a better future and lives for themselves.
1. Tell us about your upbringing, background & journey.
I was fortunate enough to be able to tackle my academics front with relative ease. Being the youngest among three brothers, I never faced any performance pressure from my parents.
I thus managed to spend enough time on sports and extracurricular activities during my school and college days, and even when I went to IIM Ahmedabad. My father being in the army we always had access to various sports and club facilities.
However, the one thing that seemed to interest me the most was helping my friends and peers with their studies and work. So even as I stood second in my class (for a couple of years) and my classmates pushed me to "beat the topper", I was happier helping out classmates, who became friends for life, who were lying at the bottom of the class.
This trend continued across my school and college days, and has been my 'calling' even during my work years - I get greater pleasure in delivering good quality output working with the "underdogs" rather than with the "best in class". This interest also manifested itself in my helping many people grow and realize their potential at work, even if it meant they're leaving my work teams and work locations.
2. How did you decide to change your field even though you rose to the highest echelons in the Corporate world?
Not surprisingly even while I grew more than steadily in the competitive world of Advertising (which I chose because it gave me the opportunity to work across diverse products and services at a given time), in leading agencies like Ogilvy (16 years), JWT (HTA then), BBDO (RK Swamy then) and FCB (Ulka then) handling clients like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Panasonic, Pernod Ricard, UNICEF, Gillette, Hindustan Times, Mint, etc., I chose to move to the Development Sector a little after I turned 50.
While working at Ogilvy I had led successful communication campaigns on VDIS ’97 (Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme), a tax amnesty scheme of the Ministry of Finance, and the Pulse Polio Immunisation campaign of the Ministry of Health/UNICEF, both of which involved mobilizing large populations for a certain call to action - making a cynical and non-believing nation pay taxes and join the mainstream financial regime in the first case, and getting parents of 0-5-year-olds to get their kids vaccinated repeatedly at polio booths on specific dates, in the second instance.
I preferred to collaborate rather than compete, and realized I might be happier working on causes rather than pure Corporate brands and businesses.
3. How did you choose the organization to move to, and what advice do you have for people who want to make the switch to the development sector?
I was fortunate enough to 'discover' PRADAN after almost a year of searching for the right cause and organization in the development sector that would appeal to my heart and head. PRADAN works with remote, rural communities in Central and Eastern India, helping them come out of intergenerational poverty and realize a better future and lives for themselves.
PRADAN believes, "people, no matter how poor (they are), are capable of driving the change they need." This intrinsic faith in people's potential and capabilities, and the bottom-up approach of inclusive development where people visualize their own future and pursue it basis their priorities, was in complete sync with my way of thinking.
And so I joined PRADAN in December of 2016, part-time initially, and then full time after one year giving up my Corporate assignments totally.
4. Have you managed to use your areas of specialization in your new assignment?
Interestingly, I now bring into play my skills and experience of communication, branding, and positioning, new "business" sourcing, stakeholder relationships and management, etc. for the work that PRADAN does, and derive massive amounts of satisfaction from the contribution I make. And in the outcomes, we achieve as an organization working with marginalized rural communities.
5. How can a non-profit benefit from branding and communications?
As an organization that had achieved a great impact and amassed massive amounts of learnings and experience, PRADAN was rather inward-focused, and media-shy around the time I joined the organization.
We have since moved to a stage where communication and stakeholder relationship management have become strategic tools to grow outreach and impact of PRADAN's work.
Similarly, the organization is now making time and resource investments in knowledge management and exchange to contribute to the sector's growth and its own growth in stature within the sector.
We have launched branded initiatives like Samagam (samagam) - a platform to encourage collaboration between Samaaj-Sarkaar-Bazaar stakeholders, Sampark (sampark) - a knowledge management and exchange platform, The Transformers - Conversations with Development Sector Leaders, and Samvaad (FB Page) - Ideas Exchange for Development Action. These are all efforts to reposition PRADAN as a Thought and Sector Leader, rather than be seen just as a great grassroots implementing agency.
6. What would you describe your success to across the Corporate and Development sectors?
It is my strong belief that one needs to follow one's passion but put in one's best in whatever work or profession one takes up, even if it isn't your first choice. Or you if don't realize your passion or find your calling initially.
It is very important to believe and work with people, and help each other grow. Lone rangers tend to be limited by their own thinking and learning, while collaboration helps everyone grow. As the African proverb goes, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
That has been the mantra of my life, and that is something I am being able to really practice and experience in my work life as we look to pursue collaborative working in addressing our development challenges and move closer to achieving our SDGs.
7. What are your future plans?
I think it's actually providential that I came to work in the area of poverty alleviation - 17th October happens to be ‘International Day for the Eradication of Poverty; it also happens to be my birthday!
I hope to be able to make meaningful contributions to the cause of poverty alleviation and realize the vision of a more just and equitable society, where everyone can work and live with dignity, for many more years to come. Hopefully for the rest of my active work life.
Sudhir Sahni | Director (Partnerships) | PRADAN
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