1. www.shadesofhappiness.org
I have truly begun to comprehend the depth of the Latin phrase ‘Per Aspera Ad
Astra’ – ‘through hardship to the stars’ - during my tenure as Vice-President of
‘Shades of Happiness Foundation’, a Not for Profit organization.

2. Vision: A world with sustainable socio–economic inclusion.
Mission: To act as a catalyst in educating, enabling and empowering the less
fortunate sections of society with knowledge, skills and infrastructure in order to
achieve comprehensive socio- economic equilibrium in society.

3. The real challenge was at grassroots’ level- translating my passionate narrative into
legible action plans by realizing the holistic needs of poverty-stricken communities
by adopting a slum in Hyderabad.

4. Motivating 60 children from the vicinity to attend classes and soliciting concerns of
their families was a true test of communication-skills.

5. .
Our creative methods of teaching through theatre workshops, art and audio-visual
learning modules gave children an intrinsic motivation to attend.

6. Changing the parent’s attitude towards education was the next hurdle. We
developed an incentive system such as providing the children with mini-meals and
regular medical check-ups.

7. However, we initially didn’t realize the constraints within which these people were
operating. For instance, when it came to health investments – instead of providing
direct medical services we learnt what was really needed was effective awareness
campaigns.

8. We have amplified the scope of our impact by partnering with corporate such as
Datamonitor, D. E. Shaw & Co., Centuryply& Co. and Fortis, among others.

9. Gradually, as we begun to expand our operations to government schools and
orphanages, we felt the dire need of a fundraiser.

10. We decided to leverage India’s cricket fever and organize a corporate tournament,
‘Hope Cup 2011’, enabling us to achieve financial stability and simultaneously
generate awareness about our initiative.

11. Consequently, I was elected as the nation-wide Vice President and became a
trustee of the organization.

12. •My decisions became more strategic, such as partnering with the Duke of Edinburgh Award Program to build a stronger volunteer base.
My decisions became more strategic, such as partnering with the Duke of
Edinburgh Award Program to build a stronger volunteer base.

13. I have encountered myriad UKVs (Unforeseen Killer Variables); sponsors backing
out of fundraisers, legal environment being non-conducive towards tax benefits,
volunteers with ‘Shiny Ball Syndrome’ ignoring our operational capacity.

14. By acknowledging areas of weakness I use failure as a stepping stone towards
improvement.

15. I regularly consult a dashboard of performance indicators; ‘Would the community
be impacted by our absence?’ is the litmus test I apply to measure progress.

16. Articulating a Not-For-Profit’s soul and mission is the greatest leadership challenge,
mandating that I make systematically pragmatic decisions regarding our limited
financial resources and simultaneously foster my ability to connect with a wide
spectrum of people –beneficiaries, volunteers and donors.

17. The ‘pixie dust’ I use to make ‘Shades of Happiness’ unique is embracing the
idiosyncrasies of the children we work with, giving volunteers meaningful,
customized responsibilities and treating transparency and authenticity as are our
most valuable currencies.

18. Today, Shades of Happiness Foundation caters to the academic, medical and extra-
curricular needs of over 200 direct beneficiaries…

19. …and continues to grow exponentially.

20. This has been my most inspirational journey of relentless pursuit of disrupting the
status quo and developing the fortitude to initiate, persevere and stand strongly
behind an idea.

21. My Shades of Happiness experience, inspired me to become more involved in the
social sector. In 2010 at an official lunch with the senior executives of my company,
D. E. Shaw & Co., I brought up the query of why our C.S.R. cell was inactive.

22. We have some of the brightest minds who helped the company beat the market
during the global financial crisis; and clearly the solution to social and financial
inclusion lies between the market and the traditional philanthropic model. Within a
month, the C.S.R. core committee was formed of which I head interim events.

23. Consequently my exposure to the social sector reached new dimensions while
working with other Not For Profit organizations on CSR initiatives.

24. Whether by leveraging my contacts as an N.S.E.F. Strategic Partnership Manager to
conduct a social entrepreneurship conference or by organizing an interactive visit
to Bluecross, an Animal shelter I’m associated with I have displayed the propensity
to align organizational visions and achieve multiple objectives.

25. The goal of the IDEA conference was to catalyze social entrepreneurship amongst
the youth, develop social innovation models and mutually learn about effective
solutions to pressing social problems. I organized 4 such conferences in and around
Hyderabad which were attended by over 500 college students from varied
backgrounds.

26. These events served as a networking platform as well. For instance, I had the
opportunity to liaise with the founder of Milaap, a microfinance institute. The
interaction has not only deepened my understanding of Milaap’s modus operandi
but has also given me a platform to become more involved.

27. Promoting a free-credits project, accompanying them on field trips and helping
create a documentary about their efforts improved my understanding of the
complexities involved in lending without collateral and assessing the reliability of
small scale business models.

28. Additionally, during my association with Shaheen Women’s Welfare Association as
a Communication Lecturer, I have worked with 30 young economically
disadvantaged women on a vocational training program to help them achieve
financial independence.

29. I also had the opportunity to use my law degree to assist the organization on
weekends as a para-legal. We offer free legal assistance to victims of domestic
violence, sexual harassment and rape for women who are socially discriminated
against.

30. Realizing firm-wide constraints, building an active platform connecting employees
with a plethora of social ventures and balancing my existing work responsibilities
as a financial analyst has not been without its vicissitudes.

31. But with collaboration and perseverance, I have scaled up our initiatives to support
over 10 NGOs, tripled employee participation and persuaded the higher
management to increase the C.S.R. logistics budget by 60%.

32. During this journey, my passion and interest in the social sector has increased
exponentially. I aspire to use my skills in a meaningful way to create an impact on
organizations and change lives.

33. An MBA from IE will not only give me a substantive knowledge and framework for
strategic thinking but also ensure I have a moral comprehension of how best to
effect social change.

34. I intend to adopt the language and tools of business to develop outcomes and
strategies for sustainability by complementing hard skills like financial know-how
with a razor sharp understanding of Non Profit Organization dynamics.

35. ‘Strategic Philanthropy’ mandates a sound foundation in management, leadership
and scalability. An MBA will equip me to bring in organization wide efficiency by
implementing an operational and streamlined culture.

36. With recent trends of unprecedented blurring of the distinctions between
Corporations and Non-profit initiatives, emerging economies need people who
know how to build companies not just people with good intentions.

37. IE’s curriculum in particular offers over 60 eclectic courses that relate to
sustainability and corporate responsibility as part of its stellar MBA program, which
would be catalytic in making my vision materialize.

38. IE has served as a social incubation cell by supporting students with
Entrepreneurship and Strategic Consulting Projects, which will be invaluable
experiential learning opportunities for me.

39. Networking with like-minded individuals courtesy SR Forum and Net Impact club
and having professors like Dr. Amrou Awaysheh as mentors makes IE the ideal
institute for prospective students like myself, who aspire to be agents of social
change.

40. Furthermore, I strongly identify with IE’s unique innovative curriculum, focus on
social responsibility, unparallel diversity and entrepreneurial spirit, which have
earned the school its position as one of the world’s top Green MBA programs.
Slide No. 33-40 – Images have been sourced from IE
International MBA brochure.