Deshpande to Speak on Social Entrepreneurship, Akshaya Patra
Last Updated: May 30, 2008

HOUSTON - IITAGH has arranged a talk by renowned Indian entrepreneur, Dr. Desh Deshpande on June 14 at Westin Oaks Hotel. Dr. Desh Deshpande will talk about entrepreneurship in the for-profit world and how the lessons from the for-profit sector can be applied to the non-profit world.

Indians, both in India and outside of India, have achieved leadership positions in the markets that serve the privileged. These markets are brutally competitive and demand the best to be able to retain the market share and keep the organization profitable. If we can bring the skills from competitive markets to non-profits, we can transform the world.
The new global economy that rewards the smart, energetic and well educated has widened the gap between haves and have-nots. Therefore, it has become increasingly important for social entrepreneurs to bridge these two worlds and create opportunities for everyone in the world.

Dr. Deshpande will use the example of Akshaya Patra, an organization that serves mid-day meals to school children, to illustrate the possibilities. Starting modestly with serving 1500 students in 2000, Akshaya Patra has grown exponentially and is currently distributing healthy meals to almost 850,000 students every day, in five states in India making it the largest NGO run, school feeding program in the world. The highly cost effective model procures inputs from local markets, uses innovative technologies such as rain harvesting and steam as a cooking medium and implements efficient processes to prepare, pack and distribute while maintaining high standards of quality.

India is a unique place to try out the social entrepreneurship ideas; it has a large population who have so little and also professionals who have proven to be second to none in the world. If we can combine the two, we can come up with solutions for the underserved that can scale and become a role model for the non-profits every where in the world. Hope for the underprivileged can be the best commodity that India can export to the rest of the world.

Dr. Deshpande is the founder and chairman of Sycamore Networks. Before starting Sycamore “Desh” created Cascade Communications Corp. and grew it to a 900 employee company with revenues of $500Mn. Cascade was acquired by Ascend Communication in 1997 for $3.7 billion. Desh Deshpande graduated with a BS in electrical engineering in 1973 from IITM, ME from University of New Brunswick, Canada, and a PhD from Queens University, Canada in 1979.

To register for this event and to know more about the IITAGH and its networking and mentoring lecture series, visit www.iitagh.org.