New Delhi / Gurugram, February 01, 2024 – Grameen Foundation, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling the poor, especially women to create a world without poverty and hunger, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Krishnan Pallassana as the new Country Director for India. In his role, Mr. Krishnan will be responsible for providing strategic direction, overseeing operations, and driving initiatives that align with the organization’s mission to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of the underprivileged.

Krishnan has worked for more than 30 years to improve the lives of millions of Indian citizens. Most recently he led the Indian country office of Digital Green, an international NGO that creates digital solutions for rural communities. He has also served in leadership positions with the Population Foundation of India, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, The Climate Group, Actionaid International, and several other development organizations.

“Grameen Foundation is thrilled to welcome Krishnan Pallassana as the Country Director in India. With over 30 years of experience in sustainable development, climate change, and tech led interventions at scale, Krishnan will advance Grameen’s foundational work to end poverty by investing in the power of women. Together, we will change the lives of millions of women in the coming years,” said Zubaida Bai, President and CEO, Grameen Foundation.

Krishnan expressed his enthusiasm about joining Grameen Foundation, stating, “I am honored to be a part of Grameen Foundation and contribute to its impactful work in India. I am excited about the opportunity to lead a team of dedicated professionals and build on the foundation’s successes in addressing poverty and creating sustainable solutions for communities in need.”

Grameen Foundation has a strong presence globally, and Krishnan’s appointment is expected to strengthen the organization’s commitment to driving positive change in India. His strategic vision, coupled with the foundation’s innovative programs, will help further enable the communities, especially those in underserved and remote areas.

About Grameen Foundation:
Grameen Foundation is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling the poor, especially women to create a world without poverty and hunger. With a focus on creating innovative solutions, the foundation works to build resilience, increase income, and improve the overall well-being of communities. By leveraging the power of technology and partnerships, Grameen Foundation strives to create lasting impact and promote sustainable development.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
Madhurima Ghose | T: +91 78388 55749 | E: info@grameenfoundation.in

The objective of this project is to design and develop a comprehensive Event Registration Web/Application with a focus on user-friendly functionalities for seamless event registration, attendee engagement, and efficient management. The application aims to enhance the overall event experience for both organizers and participants.

Based on the assessment shared by the local team develop some comprehensive training modules on health and nutrition which can be delivered in offline and online mode

TRAGE UP is an initiative of Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) and Grameen Foundation India (GFI) with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which aims at improving farmers’ incomes and resilience by strengthening the capacity of Farmers Producer Organization (FPOs). This project aims to enhance the FPOs ecosystem with improved process and system establishment for the transformation of agriculture by promoting a food system-based approach through nutrient-rich crop diversification, women-friendly and climate-smart technology, finance, and market linkage.

GFI has undertaken multiple interventions across three components of the project to address the challenges faced by FPOs and establish smooth institutional functioning. These efforts aim to foster sustainable business development through collaboration with private sector entities and coordination with government departments. GFI has achieved success in several key areas, including:

• Promoting biofortified and nutrient-rich crops to enhance crop production and consumption.
• Advocating for the adoption of women-friendly and climate-smart technologies.
• Establishing financial and market linkages for FPOs to improve their agribusiness operations.

Additionally, GFI has facilitated the inclusion of women shareholders and women board members within FPOs, while also developing a gender-sensitive agricultural value chain. These initiatives are designed to enhance women’s agency, resilience, and entrepreneurship within the agricultural sector.

Considering these accomplishments, GFI aims to document the successful interventions and create case studies and impact stories. These resources will serve as valuable learning materials for various stakeholders in the sector, facilitating replication and scaling at both national and international levels.

Last date to apply: October 15, 2023

How to Apply: Please email detailed technical and financial proposal to ssingh1@grameenfoundation.in. Final approval and payment will be done after the evaluation of proposal and previous work from GFI management.

TRAGE UP is an initiative of Grameen Foundation USA (GFUSA) and Grameen Foundation India (GFI) with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which aims at improving farmers’ incomes and resilience by strengthening the capacity of Farmers Producer Organization (FPOs). This project aims to enhance the FPOs ecosystem with improved process and system establishment for the transformation of agriculture by promoting a food system-based approach through nutrient-rich crop diversification, women-friendly and climate-smart technology, finance, and market linkage.

Last date to apply: October 15, 2023

How to Apply: Please email detailed technical and financial proposal to ssingh1@grameenfoundation.in. Final approval and payment will be done after the evaluation of proposal and previous work from GFI management.

In the ongoing project aimed at strengthening FPOs and farmers, GFI has developed and tested various training modules tailored to meet the specific needs of farmers and FPOs, aligning them with the requirements of the TRAGE UP project. Additionally, GFI has created knowledge products for the benefit of various stakeholders, with the intention of extending these resources to FPOs and farmers to enhance their knowledge.

GFI is now committed to enhancing the professionalism and user-friendliness of these tested modules. This effort aims to make the modules accessible to a wide range of stakeholders, including the Agriculture Department of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. The goal is to promote a Food Systems approach, implement gender-responsive agricultural practices, facilitate the adoption of women-friendly and climate-smart technologies, establish market linkages to increase income, and ensure improved nutrition.

The primary objective of this assignment is to complete and prepare the final, printable, and designed versions of three distinct training modules, along with the development of three separate compendiums

Last date to apply: October 05, 2023
How to Apply: Please email detailed Technical and Financial proposal to ssingh1@grameenfoundation.in. GFI retains full rights to accept or reject the proposals or shelve the assignment, at any point of time.

With the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grameen Foundation India implemented BCNM Experiment and Demonstrating Scale (BEADS) project during 2021 – 23. The endline evaluation of the project was conducted between Dec 2022 and Mar 2023 by surveying 433 BC agents and 434 customers. The survey was conducted across seven states from six partner financial service providers in India.

One of the critical learning hypotheses for the project was to understand the business case for women agents. Our recent research offers compelling answers to this question, providing strong evidence on two fronts. Firstly, it emphasizes the value of investing in designing and developing products and services tailored specifically for female customers. Secondly, it advocates the need to hire more female agents by establishing a strong business case for them.

India’s last-mile delivery of financial services is hindered by the digital and gender divide, posing significant challenges. While basic access to financial services has been achieved, there remains a disparity in the usage and quality of these services, especially among low-income and vulnerable groups. A critical factor in ensuring sustainable usage and maintaining service quality is the role of Business Correspondent (BC) agents. However, the gender gap in BC agents delivering affordable financial services is a pressing concern. To enhance their viability and bridge the gender gap, Grameen Foundation USA and Grameen Foundation India, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, launched the BCNM Experiments & Demonstrating Scale (BEADS) project.

About BEADS project

The project was implemented between Sep 2020 to March 2023 with the aim to address challenges faced by all stakeholders, e.g., the BCs, the BC customers, and the BCNMs, with the following objectives:

• Drive informed pilots with established BCNMs to test more cost-effective, agile, and inclusive ways of selecting, recruiting, and training BCs.
• Improve the viability of individual agents by testing various approaches to diversifying and increasing revenue.

With a focus on addressing the challenges BC agents face, especially women, and leveraging the insights gained from the baseline study, three pilots, in collaboration with six partners, were conducted as part of the action research.

Findings from the Endline Study

India’s last-mile delivery of financial services is hindered by the digital and gender divide, posing significant challenges. While basic access to financial services has been achieved, there remains a disparity in the usage and quality of these services, especially among low-income and vulnerable groups. A critical factor in ensuring sustainable usage and maintaining services quality is the role of Business Correspondent (BC) agents. However, the gender gap in BC agents delivering affordable financial services is a pressing concern. To enhance their viability and bridge the gender gap, Grameen Foundation USA and Grameen Foundation India, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, launched the BCNM Experiments & Demonstrating Scale (BEADS) Project.

The endline evaluation report offers a comprehensive assessment of the BEADS experiment encompassing three pilot interventions, strategically designed to enhance agent viability. The report showcases project performance, and underscores the impacts arising from these pilots. Notably, the project led to product diversification, the augmentation of agent soft skills to better serve customers, and an enhancement in customer awareness through the implementation of low-cost marketing efforts.

Grameen Foundation India has developed a model around the three components of the project to overcome FPOs’ challenges and establish smooth institutional functioning by developing sustainable business in collaboration with the private players and convergence with the government departments. Not only that but also induced women shareholders and women board of directors and developed a gender Agri value chain to enhance the women’s agency resilience and entrepreneurship. In this context GFI intends to capture the successful intervention and stories through the development of video documents. Four video documents will be developed on three components of the project and one on gender inclusion to share the success of intervention with the largest audience and among the different stakeholders for replication and scale.
The impact video stories will cover the challenges, the intervention ideas, process and best practices adopted, impacts created through various interventions in the light house FPO and will also cover vision to scale up it and lessons learned from the project etc.

Overall objective of the Assignment:
The overall objective of the assignment is to produce a program documentary film on LightHouse FPO model of TRAGE UP, highlighting best approaches, best practices, achievements and real impact of the program focal area.

Last date to apply: August 25, 2023
How to Apply: Please email detailed Technical and Financial proposal to ssingh1@grameenfoundation.in. Final approval and payment will be done after the evaluation of proposal and previous work from GFI management.