On boarding with Saamuhika Shakti

By Pradeep Sharma and Shruti Venkatesan, Sattva Consulting

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We are thrilled to share that Sattva will be joining the Saamuhika Shakti collective as the backbone for Phase 2 of the program. We are truly grateful for this opportunity and are looking forward to working with the informal waste pickers of Bengaluru and creating sustainable impact in collaboration with each of the Saamuhika Shakti partners. 

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The opportunity of being the backbone for Saamuhika Shakti is extremely exciting for us due to three key reasons -

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Saamuhika Shakti’s unwavering belief in the collective impact methodology is deeply aligned with Sattva’s ethos and approach to impact

Sattva exists to address wicked societal challenges, with poverty and inequity being at the heart of it. We strongly believe that these long standing complex development challenges can be meaningfully addressed when there’s an amalgamation of three factors - diversified expertise to tackle different facets of development, a dedicated and growing resource pool to address problems sustainably, and lastly, systemic influence to ensure sustainability as well as scalability of planned interventions. These aspects can only be unlocked and maximised with the help of collective action. Thus, Sattva’s mission and theory of change revolves around fostering and facilitating collective action to achieve transformative impact, making it deeply aligned with Saamuhika Shakti’s essence as a program. 

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Playing the role of the backbone for Saamuhika Shakti will enable Sattva to demonstrate and leverage its core capabilities - Sattva brings together three core capabilities -

• Rich cross-functional expertise coupled with deep network connections - Through provisioning of end-to-end consulting services (research, strategy, program design and implementation, monitoring, evaluation & learning, and impact measurement) to diverse stakeholders (non-profits, corporations, social enterprises, investors, governments, multilaterals and development agencies, and family philanthropies) across domains (gender, sustainability & ESG, livelihoods, agriculture, healthcare, education, etc.), Sattva has built rich domain and cross-functional expertise, and an ecosystem of 5000+ social purpose organizations. As the backbone for Saamuhika Shakti, we aim to demonstrate as well as leverage our cross functional expertise and network connections to guide program strategy and vision, and co-create strategic growth pathways for the program. 
• ‍Build knowledge and data platforms for enhanced decision making - Over the years, Sattva has deeply invested in building public infrastructure in the form of knowledge and data platforms such as the Sattva Knowledge Institute that aims to guide investment decisions for impact, India Data Insights  that offers ready-to-use actionable data insights, and India Partner Network that aims to empower small to mid-sized nonprofits by bridging gaps in their institutional capacities
• As the backbone for Saamuhika Shakti, we aim to leverage these platforms combined with our monitoring, evaluation, and learning capabilities to drive data backed decision making, sustainability planning and co-creation as well as dissemination of meaningful knowledge products for the larger impact ecosystem. 
• ‍Foster and facilitate collaborative missions amongst diverse ecosystem players - Over the years, Sattva has anchored multiple collaboratives, especially in the education domain, such as the Life Skills Collaborative, Bharat EdTech Initiative, Karnataka Model Schools Programme, and Project Sampoorna. As the backbone for each of these initiatives, Sattva brought together diverse players from the private sector, public sector, and civic society, fostered a strong collaborative climate amongst them, and played multiple roles (entrepreneur, facilitator, manager, consultant, mediator, and expert) to drive collective action. We aim to leverage our past experiences and learnings to play the role of a backbone for Saamuhika Shakti effectively and efficiently.

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‍Being a part of Saamuhika Shakti offers a great learning opportunity for Sattva

‍Saamuhika Shakti is a one-of-a-kind collective impact initiative. A few factors that contribute to its uniqueness are - firstly, it brings together diverse organizations that are experts in different fields to co-create with the primary actors, the waste pickers and deliver a truly holistic program. Saamuhika Shakti has brought together partners such as H&M Foundation, Hasiru Dala, Sambhav Foundation, Udhyam Learning Foundation, Enviu, Circular Apparel Innovation Factory, Social Alpha, Bal Raksha Bharat, Sparsha Trust, The/Nudge Institute, WaterAid India, BBC Media Actionwho are collectively working towards supporting life outcome goals of Bengaluru’s waste picker communities. Instead of solving for one part of the puzzle, the program, through its myriad interventions, is attempting to sustainably address a deep rooted complex societal challenge. Secondly, the program is pioneering collaborative KPIs and shared measurement systems in the Indian context. Both these factors give us an opportunity to learn, co-create and disseminate valuable insights on the Collective Impact methodology nationally as well as globally. As we take the baton from The/Nudge Institute as the new backbone organization, our aspiration is to build and capitalise on the rich legacy and momentum that has been built in Phase 1, to take Saamuhika Shakti to new heights in Phase 2.