From the CEO’s Desk

Although it was only 365 days (give or take a few hours), the past year was momentous in many ways. A new project office, a fleet of new faces, and more than a few late nights building an organisation to be proud of—2017 was a year to remember.

A year of transition for the UnLtd India Team- from Founder-led to a leader who came from outside. It overall met every expectation of a leadership transition year and some more. Through all the change management realities, I am very happy to share that the UnLtd India team and all Stakeholders came together to ensure that our organisation’s core stayed focused on our work.

Some of the highlights included the team taking up the challenge and laying the foundations of scaling up UnLtd India’s reach through- establishing systems and processes for scale, investing in building team capabilities for consistent support, setting up a Delhi (Project) office team, and improved & efficient financial management systems.

Setting up our Delhi project office and delivering an identical seamless program experience at both our centres has added to our diversity of social entrepreneurs. It’s been our privilege to support entrepreneurs across the spectrum; some who are using poetry and sports as a medium of education while others who are leveraging biotechnology to enhance the livelihood of farmers.

This year, we welcomed our first big domestic CSR donor - Bajaj Holdings and Investments Ltd. We also piloted a collaboration with J.P. Morgan that provides our social entrepreneurs expert support across key functional areas that are critical for growth of an organisation.

We introduced a new series of events called Learning Journeys - meaningful events aimed at developing result-driven and actionable thought leadership to enable individual and organisational transformation. Skilling Matters – Adapting to a Shifting Paradigm was our first event hosted in partnership with J.P. Morgan in March 2018.

There were delays on program delivery, we right-sized and we missed many deadlines. These were backed by learnings and a renewed focus & determination to set right our lost time.

A milestone year for the organization, I am humbled by the support and guidance that we have received from our funders, donors and well-wishers who have supported us. I wouldn’t have been able to lead and achieve what we have, as a team, without their support. We believe we are ready to step up and double our development activities in 2018-2020.

Anshu Bhartia
Chief Executive Officer