Here's what made the Global Citizenship Conference 2019 extra special:300 Practitioners, 25+ Collaborators, and a tireless crew, all of who came together on 25 September 2019 to celebrate a first-of-its-kind Open Day for Global Citizenship, with inspiring Springboard Sessions, lively panel discussions, five hands-on workshops, ten companies at the Social Innovation Expo, an intercultural evening, and ample networking opportunity over lunch and dinner!
Springboard Sessions, an interactive event designed to let the audience comprehend stories of global changemakers and emulate them in their own journeys of self-discovery and contribution to society.
Ashish Srivastava from CSTEP, a Bangalore-based technology and policy think tank, wowed audiences with his ‘people first, technology last’ approach sought to reverse the paradigm adopted by policymakers when driving sustained social impact projects.
Vivek Srinivasan, our second Springboard Speaker, is the founder of the Startups Club. Initially conceived as an NGO, Vivek realized the intrinsic value of data and channeled it to turn Startups Club into a financially sustainable endeavor. Today, Startups Club is a leading platform for early stage startups in India and continues to guide enthusiastic startup founders along their impact journey.
The third speaker was Sandhya Sarah Jose from IDEX Accelerator. Connecting with the audience by narrating her own tale of confusion, exploration, and discovery of her career path, Sandhya talked about creating a new talent economy of ‘intrapreneurs’. She is a practicing intrapreneur herself, and a strategist and program manager.
Up next on the dais was Vladimir Fomene – a Senior Fellow of the Melton Foundation. A Global Citizen of many achievements, Vladimir is the co-founder of HealthStack and is currently researching in Centre Pasteur Cameroon. He has successfully developed an innovative approach to malaria diagnosis with the aid of Artificial Intelligence.
Kasha Sequoia Slavner, founder of The Global Sunrise Project (a media hub for inspired storytelling about the global community), spoke to the audience through a compelling video presentation. Kasha is a documentary filmmaker who uses her passion for visual storytelling to create media that inspires people to make positive change.
Launched in 2013, Springboard Sessions are a stimulus for novel thinking and collaborative action for global citizens. Watch a collection of 25+ transformative talks by inspirational leaders on our YouTube channel here.
From unique backgrounds, sectors, and industries, the Panel Discussion helped audiences learn from and connect with crusaders, researchers, and practitioners who are shaping today's social impact and innovation ecosystem!
Workshops around the United Nations SDGs, opened doors for participants to engage with incredible social impact organizations as they explored specific challenges in Technology, Sustainability and Social Innovation first-hand.
We convened eight prominent startups and companies from the Social Innovation and Sustainability sector. These companies showcased projects, products and interacted with GCC Participants during the Open Day Networking Hour.
An evening celebrating intercultural melange, displaying the essence of the truly global spirit of the Melton Foundation!
"The cultural capsulas and cultural presentations always feel valuable as they do not only represent part of the cultures we are sharing with, but they also represent what other Fellows want us to learn or enjoy about them. It feels like a gift: They are always prepared and organized with love and dedication, and being part of them or watching them, leaves me always feeling blessed."
The Melton Foundation is proud to present our esteemed speakers from the #IndiaGCC2019 'Open Day' - passionate and dedicated leaders in Technology, Sustainability, and Social Innovation! Get to know them now, and let us empower ideas and broaden our perspectives together this 25th of September!
Meet Sandhya Sarah Jose
IDEX Accelerator
Springboard Sessions
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Meet Ashish Srivastava
CSTEP
Springboard Sessions
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Meet Brinda Adige
Global Concerns India
Springboard Sessions
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Meet Vladimir Fomene
Melton Foundation
Springboard Sessions
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Meet Nalini Shekar
Hasiru Dala
Springboard Sessions
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Meet Vivek Srinivasan
Startups Club
Springboard Sessions
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Meet Tara Krishnaswamy
Citizens For Bengaluru
Springboard Sessions
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Meet Diana Thomas
Amani Institute
Hands-On Workshops
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Meet Melissa Hayes
Amani Institute
Hands-On Workshops
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Meet Gayathri Muraleedharan
CSTEP
Hands-On Workshops
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Meet Shramana Dey
CSTEP
Hands-On Workshops
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Meet Bhavna Mathur
IDEX Accelerator
Hands-On Workshops
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Meet Barbara Mora
Melton Foundation
Hands-On Workshops
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Meet Neli Blum
Melton Foundation
Hands-On Workshops
Read BioIDEX Accelerator
The Associate Program Manager at IDEX Accelerator, Sarah supports the management and delivery of IDEX’ Global Fellowship Program. As a practicing Intrapreneur, Strategist and Program Manager, she is responsible for communications, marketing, admission cycles. She also works closely with the IDEX team in managing the fellows, partner enterprises, mentors-in-residence and alumni networks in order to provide an enriching experience for all stakeholders.
Sarah graduated with a Bachelors in Management Studies from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai in 2010, whilst also an active member of the international student organization, AIESEC, and it was here she was first introduced to the world of Social Enterprise, thus springing her passion for building sustainable businesses and solutions for the world’s most pressing problems.
CSTEP
Ashish heads the Digital and AI lab for the CSTEP (Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy), a technology-and-policy think tank, headquartered in Bangalore. Looking back at 30 years of intense career in the IT industry, he is considered an adept Enterprise Architect and has led large solution initiatives, involving many technologies including AI, IoT and Data Science. Ashish is currently busy creating high-impact digital solutions in social areas like health, child welfare, agriculture and defence. He and his team were recently declared winners of IDEX startup challenge by Department of Defence.
Ashish has done his B.Tech at IIT (BHU) and Masters at IIIT – Bengaluru with a gold medal. He also holds a post-graduate certification in Economics from the University of London.
Global Concerns India
Brinda is an extremely passionate women rights activist, development consultant, author, and founder of Global Concerns India.
She initiated and pioneered India’s first police-civil society child protection helpline in 1997, inside the Bangalore Police Commissioner’s Office called Makkala Sahaya Vani. She then headed this Unit from the date of initiation till 2006. At present, she coordinates programs and efforts related to making cities safer for women, children and marginalized communities through convergence action, supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, under the Karnataka and Bavaria Governments Cooperation Pact.
Melton Foundation
Vladimir is a software engineer by training, a budding entrepreneur, and a Senior Fellow of the Melton Foundation. A graduated from Ashesi University College, he works on a research project at Centre Pasteur Cameroon where he is developing an innovative approach to Malaria diagnosis using artificial intelligence. He is also the co-founder of HealthStack, a startup that develops customer management systems for medical diagnostics laboratories in Cameroon.
Aside from his work, Vladimir enjoys spending his time with family and friends, jogging and doing yoga.
Hasiru Dala
Nalini is the co-founder of Hasiru Dala, an organization focusing on the inclusion of wastepickers and other workers in informal waste economy in Bangalore and across Karnataka. She also co-founded Kagad, Kach Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), a union of wastepickers in Pune in 1997. Before her return to India, she worked on the issue of violence against women for over a decade in the USA.
Nalini received the Kempegowda Award in 2015 from the City of Bangalore, the “Vasundara Mitra” Award 2016 from Kirloskar Ferrous Industries Limited, and Jijabai Award from Shivaji College, Delhi University in 2017. She was chosen as one of 100 women in India who make a difference in the society by BBC.com, and received several awards in the USA for her work with immigrants and women survivors of violence.
Startups Club
Vivek is the founder of Startups Club, a platform for early stage startups in India. He has mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs over the past decade and has had the privilege of having done this across over 30 cities in India. He has worked with investors as well as made investments in various companies.
A Mentor, Speaker & Thinker, Vivek is an avid reader who dives into a variety of topics including science, politics, economics, business and art. He enjoys the intersection of all of these subjects and loves to talk about all of these.
Citizens For Bengaluru
Tara is the co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, a movement with landmark campaigns like #SteelFlyoverBeda, campaigns for mass public transit for suburban gains and public buses, or the #BekuBedaSanthe for the citizens manifesto in Bangalore. She also co-founded Shakti, a pan-India, non partisan citizens pressure group working to get more women into State Assemblies & Parliament.
A committed activist and civil society advocate, Tara contributed to numerous policy efforts, including the Lokpal amendments, Rape Law amendments, participation in the Joint Fact Finding Committee on Andhra Pradesh Special Category Status. She has independently authored on federalism, citizenship, gender and caste issues with First Post, The News Minute, Live Mint, News Laundry, Times of India, Hindustan Times, among many others.
Amani Institute
Raised in the Silicon Valley of India, Diana believes that technology in the hands of the right people, combined with a desire for effective change, holds the key to solving many of the monumental challenges facing us today. As Leadership & Innovation Training Programs Manager at Amani Institute, she is designing and delivering trainings on topics ranging from Effective Communication, Women Empowerment, Leadership Development, Social Etiquette to Diversity and Inclusion.
Sharing a deep love for all animals and nature, you can find Diana playing with her pet cats, tending to community strays & her terrace garden when she’s not at work. She also enjoys comedy in reel and real life, deep conversations with friends, family and like-minded people, working out, reading on a wide range of topics, and music & movies from various genres and languages.
Amani Institute
Melissa is committed to helping individuals and organizations build commercially viable, highly-impactful and scalable programs. A program designer with vast experience working across sectors and geographies, she’s fascinated by the way individuals, entrepreneurs and organizations learn and apply new skills to drive innovation. She is equipping entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with practical skills and experiences in the design, implementation and scaling of solutions for socio-economic development. Plus, she’s helping professionals unlock their highest potential by building key leadership skills and learning how to manage and lead themselves.
Melissa holds an MSc in Sustainability Science and Policy from Maastricht University (Netherlands) and currently works as Leadership & Innovation Training Programs Manager at Amani Institute.
CSTEP
Gayathri is an urban planner, currently working as a Research Analyst at the Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy (CSTEP). She holds a master’s degree in Regional Planning from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and has over 6 years of experience in urban planning and development.
The emerging discourse on data driven urban governance greatly interests her, which is also one of her focus areas at CSTEP. Her other research interests include integrated land and water resource management, national and state level water policy ecosystem, urban analytics for sustainable city planning solutions and so on.
CSTEP
Shramana is a Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy (CSTEP). She holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Management of Pollution from L’Université Catholique de Lille, France. She has over five years of experience in working on urban issues relating to sanitation, solid and liquid waste management, and resource management.
Shramana has also worked in the areas of equitable and inclusive access to basic services (“Leave No One Behind”) and Capacity Building (of South Asian Think Tanks). Her research interests include inclusive development, pollution management, phytoremediation and ecotoxicology.
IDEX Accelerator
The Executive Director at IDEX Accelerator, Bhavna is responsible for the success, outreach and sustainability of IDEX’s programs in India to enhance the intrapreneurial development experience for IDEX fellows, social enterprises and mentors. Prior to IDEX, she worked with UNIDO, managing technology development programs for small and medium enterprises in emerging markets.
Bhavna holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics, a Masters in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a Bachelors in Economics from Delhi University. Her passion for economics and development has always driven her to develop solutions that integrate the two and that are inclusive and sustainable. Bhavna often mentors students across schools, universities and business schools in the subject of economics.
Melton Foundation
Babara is a sociologist with research interest associated to the accumulation of cultural and social capital of university students. In addition to teaching at different institutions of higher education across Chile, she is working as a consultant for university management. She is a firm believer that projects of intervention and social innovation is all but a one way street. In addition to equipping solution designers with technical skills, she advocates for a strong social skills base so that social innovators and entrepreneurs can put themselves in the shoes of those who experience a problem first hand and engage them actively in the process of design and execution of the solution.
Barbara is a Senior Fellow of the Melton Foundation and holds a Masters Degree in sociology from the Universidad Alberto Hurtado.
Melton Foundation
Neli enjoys facilitating self-reflection through a systemic counseling mindset as well as creating new ideas for social innovations. After coordinating a global start-up providing culturally sensitive sex-education through social web-app, Neli joined RAA Leizpig e.V., an NGO driving intercultural and educational projects in Leizpig, Germany, where she leads the new project HeRoes. Here she found the perfect mix of her passion: HeRoes is a peer-to-peer feminist education project empowering boys to promote gender equality and “stand up against oppression in the name of honor”. A Senior Fellow of the Melton Foundation, she also offers participatory design consulting for NGOs and civil society organizations.
Neli holds a Master Degree in social work and social management from Friedrich Schiller Universität. A yoga session in the morning is a must for her!
