Udyogini CEO to address XLRI students tomorrow

Jamshedpur (Aug 10, The Pioneer): The leading B-school, XLRI, will organise a talk by Vanita Viswanath, CEO of Udyogini. On August 11, the budding managers of the institute will get an oppourtunity to interact with the experts of micro enterprise.

Madhukar Shukla, professor (OB & Strategic Management) and chairperson - External Linkages, XLRI School of Business and Human Resources said that the talk will explore the issues concerning social entrepreneurship in India and the organisation Udyogini that is trying to scale. The talk is targeted for the students of social entrepreneurship, however, it is also open for students of other programmes.

“I think it would be a great learning experience for the students of social entrepreneurship,” noted Shukla.

Vanita Viswanath is the CEO of Udyogini, an organisation providing business development services to poor women in the backward and remote regions of India. Prior to joining Udyogini in 2000, she was a consultant to the World Bank and other international agencies. She was a staff member of the World Bank in Washington in the early 1990s.

She has several writings to her credit including books and articles on political development, gender, development practice and micro-enterprise. She has a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in the United States.

Udyogini was established in 1992. It works to empower poor women through micro-enterprise development and management. To address the challenges posed by the market and women’s control over their own livelihoods, they promote strategies, provide services, and facilitate linkages to help women improve their skill, negotiate markets, become entrepreneurs and build institutions. Udyogini’s programs are in UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and MP.

Udyogini has come a considerable distance since its inception and has acquired critical knowledge of gender and micro-enterprise promotion at the grassroot level, both through its support work with partner NGOs and its programs in the field. It may be mentioned here that in an attempt to encourage students to explore new arenas for learning in social sector, XLRI, School of Business and Human Resource, has started a new initiative titled, Initiative for Social and Entrepreneurial Leadership (ISEL). The B-school became the first in the country to take the initiative.