Sonal Shah has spent her career both in the private and public sector, including stints with Goldman Sachs, Google.org and The White House. She is currently the CEO of The Texas Tribune, a politics and public policy-specific news organization.

But before embarking on her illustrious career, many years ago, Sonal and Deval were just two teenagers forced to wake up early and help clean up the Gandhi Centre in Houston, Texas after community events.

In this episode of No-Cost Extension, Sonal and Deval not only look back and reminisce, but they also talk about the Houston community they grew up in that nurtured so many philanthropic ventures, the pioneering giving philosophies within the Indian diaspora, how to follow stay true to one's work, the need for flexible funding and how it helps build trust and why we need to find the right funding mechanisms for communities. 

You can follow Sonal on Twitter @SonalRShah. To know more about The Texas Tribune visit https://www.texastribune.org/. 

For more information on NCE go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval_Sanghavi and @Dasra

Jo McGowan and Ravi Chopra met in the 70s and fell in love through the post. They got married and moved to India in the early 80s and have since dedicated their lives to serving the communities they live in, albeit in very different ways.

From helping set up The Front for Rapid Economic Advancement of India (FREA) to working with the Centre for Science and Environment to setting up the People’s Science Institute in Uttarakhand, Ravi Chopra has spent his life using science and technology to better the lives of others. The People’s Science Institute is known for its pioneering work in the fields livelihoods development, environmental quality monitoring and disaster-safe housing.

Jo Chopra McGowan is the founder and director of the Latika Roy Foundation, an organisation that provides specialized, localized services to children with disabilities and their families, and helps others do the same with the aim of creating a better world for children with disabilities.

Their work has grown and expanded in different ways reflecting their approach to life and personal philosophies. But what is common to both of them is their innate desire to do good. 

You can follow Latika Roy Foundation on social media @LatikaRoyFound1. To know more about the People’s Science Institute visit http://peoplesscienceinstitute.org. For more information on NCE go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval_Sanghavi and @Dasra

How do you begin to break intergenerational cycles of poor health and violence in a megapolis? What evidence based models of urban health interventions can we look to?  

Content Warning: This episode contains mentions of violence that some listeners may find disturbing and listener discretion is advised. 

In this episode of No-Cost Extension, Deval sits down with Dr. Armida Fernandez, founder-trustee of SNEHA Mumbai (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) and the organisation’s CEO Vanessa D’Souza. 

Listen in as Dr. Armida Fernandez talks about her start as a paediatrician and neonatologist at a Government Hospital in Mumbai where she and her colleagues treated vulnerable mothers and children from low-income households every day, and the series of events that lead her to begin SNEHA and work in the space of health equity. With over more than twenty years of dedicated work, SNEHA is one of the most respected public health NGOs in India. 

Vanessa d'Souza joins Dr Fernandez in this conversation, and shares her thoughts on the importance of building the ‘next line’ in organisations, the need for creating safe spaces and the intersectionality of problems in health and nutrition. 

You can follow SNEHA on social media @SNEHAMumbai. For more information on NCE go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval_Sanghavi and @Dasra

Dasra Philanthropy Week is an annual gathering of diverse stakeholders and voices from the development ecosystem to convene, converse and continue sustained action towards the quest for a billion Indians to thrive with dignity and equity. 

As the 14th edition of Dasra Philanthropy Week 2023 gets underway, No-Cost Extension presents DPW specials: conversations that we believe will be of interest to our listeners.  

This episode is a conversation between Suparna Gupta, founder of Aangan Trust, and Deval Sanghavi and Neera Nundy at DPW 2022. How do we imagine a future of collaboration? How do we recognize privilege? How do you work to bridge the gap between philanthropy and small organizations and communities? 

Listen as the co-founders of Dasra look back at their own journey over the last 23 years. 

For more information about Dasra Philanthropy Week visit https://www.dasraphilanthropyweek.org/ or https://www.dasra.org/. We'll be back next week with more episodes!

How can we engage with policymakers in a timely and effective way? What can we do to address the power imbalance between the Global North and the Global South? Why does global philanthropy set aside only 2% of funding for the climate? 

In this episode of No-Cost Extension, Deval Sanghavi has a freewheeling conversation with Alberto Lidji, Founder of the Do One Better Knowledge Hub and Podcast.

Alberto talks about his shift from working with private corporations to the world of philanthropy, why he thinks there needs to be a change in the way we work with policy makers, and some of his most memorable guests on the Do One Better Podcast. 

You can find out more about the Do One Better Knowledge Hub here https://www.lidji.org/ and follow Alberto on Twitter here https://twitter.com/alberto_lidji

To follow No-Cost Extension go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval Sanghavi and @Dasra.

How can we challenge the top-down approach to solving social problems? Can we build bridges between powerful sectors and community organisations? What role does sustained inner work play in serving with love? 

Deval sits down with Peggy Dulany, Founder & Chair of Synergos, a global organisation helping dismantle systems that create the most urgent problems of our time: poverty, social injustice, and climate change

From absorbing ideas about philanthropy ‘through her skin’ at dinner table conversations from a young age to starting The Global Philanthropists Circle (GPC) a home for individuals and families from around the world to re-imagine how to address society’s most pressing needs, Peggy traces her journey in the sector, and the phenomenal work Synergos has facilitated. 

You can find our more about Synergos here (https://www.synergos.org) and follow their work here https://twitter.com/synergos. To follow No-Cost Extension go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval Sanghavi and @Dasra.

How should funders be rethinking philanthropy in the wake of the pandemic? How can they take their egos out of the equation? How can they operate with a greater sense of urgency, transparency, and trust with grantee centric mechanisms? 

In this episode of No-Cost Extension, Deval Sanghavi sits down with Lior Ipp, the CEO of the Roddenberry Foundation that is inspired by the life and legacy of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry who believed that human potential is remarkable and would lead us to a better, fairer world. 

Lior speaks with candour about the power dynamics between donor and grantee, how the pandemic was a catalyst for the philanthropic sector to do things differently and how the first of its kind +1 Global Fund enables small organisations across the world to challenge the status quo of burdensome applications, restrictions, or reports, and instead driven by a “network-of-networks” of social entrepreneurs and innovators.

To know more about The Roddenberry Foundation visit https://roddenberryfoundation.org or follow them on @roddenberryfdn on Twitter. To follow No-Cost Extension go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval Sanghavi and @Dasra.

The Rebuild India Fund will support 1000 small community based organizations in the next decade through flexible funding and capacity building, enabling them to survive and thrive. 

How do committees select organizations for funding? What is it like to be on a selection committee? What can we learn and unlearn from the hundreds of small organizations doing meaningful work across the country? What can we do better next time?

In this second episode of the Rebuild Conversations, Deval Sanghavi catches up with the Investment Committee after their meeting to select the first set of 23 organizations for the Rebuild India fund.

Listen in to Anita Patil of Goonj, Deep Jyoti Sonu Brahma from Farm2Food Foundation, Deepa Pawar, from Anubhuti Trust, Nandita Pradhan from the Martha Farrell Foundation and Rameez Alam, from Catalyst 2030 – NASE. 

The Rebuild India Fund, founded by @Dasra and Tarsadia Foundation. For more information about the Rebuild India Fund visit https://www.rebuildindiafund.org/ or follow www.twitter.com/dasra for updates. 

For more information about the Rebuild India Fund visit https://www.rebuildindiafund.org/ or follow www.twitter.com/dasra for updates. 

When COVID-19 hit, it made clear the undeniable fact of just how vulnerable our poorest communities are. It was a setback of huge proportions, creating a crisis that extended well beyond health to impact on work and livelihoods, education, access to food and nutrition. It exposed how a shock in any one area can snowball pushing communities deeper into poverty. Many small grassroots organizations were the primary support for communities in the worst phases of the pandemic. 

The Rebuild India Fund was set up to support those closest to the ground - the small community organizations working at the grassroots to support these communities to become more resilient. The Rebuild Fund does this through flexible funding and capacity building and by recognizing and respecting NGO leaders' ability and power to run their organizations in a manner that serves their communities most meaningfully.

Why is flexible funding so critical for small organizations? How can funders support communities better? After working remotely for so many months, what’s it like to sit down with a group of people in the same room? What is the idea of India? How do we have conversations about change that are respectful and inclusive? 

In the first conversation in this series, Deval Sanghavi sits down with the Investment Committee of the fund, made up of NGO leaders from across the country who assess and select the NGOs for the Rebuild India Fund. 

Listen in as Anita Patil of Goonj, Deep Jyoti Sonu Brahma from Farm2Food Foundation, Deepa Pawar, from Anubhuti Trust, Nandita Pradhan from the Martha Farrell Foundation and Rameez Alam, from Catalyst 2030 – NASE share their thoughts about the initiative and why they believe it’s important. 

The Rebuild India Fund, founded by @Dasra and Tarsadia Foundation. For more information about the Rebuild India Fund visit https://www.rebuildindiafund.org/ or follow www.twitter.com/dasra for updates. 

How can community philanthropy grow organically in a way that serves the community, unlocking its potential? Why do we use the word risk so much in philanthropy? How can family philanthropies involve the next gen meaningfully in their work?  

Deval Sanghavi, host of No-Cost Extension Pod sits down with Maya Patel, the CEO of The Tarsadia Foundation, a family philanthropy working both in India and the United States in health and human services, economic empowerment and education. In 2016, the National Center for Family Philanthropy recognized the Tarsadia Foundation as a model of successful next-generation engagement in philanthropy.

Maya traces her family’s journey from India to Zambia to America, her father’s lifelong desire to help others succeed, and how their approach to giving has changed over the last decade 

To know more about The Tarsadia Fundation visit https://tarsadiafoundation.org/ or follow them on Twitter. To know more about the Rebuild India Fund to go www.rebuildindiafund.org . To follow No-Cost Extension go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval Sanghavi and @Dasra.