We believe that every bit counts to make the world a better place.
Our corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are the cornerstone of how we interpret our ‘purpose’, which is to be distinctive and mindful in our involvement with communities. We strive to uplift the overlooked, to strengthen those with potential, and to create an impact that amplifies and perpetuates positive change. Our CSR objectives contribute towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) as well as to India’s developmental objectives. Because we believe that every bit counts in making the world a better place.
CSR 1.0 - Initiated the CSR journey with need-based contributions to organizations that required support for their projects.
This focus area was completely researchbacked and thought through, and resonated with our belief and capability of powering Indian entrepreneurship over the last two decades.
First CSR event “Live Pitch” conducted along with Dasra, to identify three NGOs and projects in the Women Entrepreneurship area for support. Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), Deshpande Foundation, Antarang Foundation onboarded.
Impact Day, our second annual CSR event, organized with existing NGO partners.
Four new NGOs from Women Entrepreneurship and Sports Education pitchfor grants.
Avenders also pitched for an NGO of their choice.
Healthcare added as the third focus area. First grant given to Breach Candy Hospital Trust.
COVID-19 declared as pandemic and CSR projects in Women Entrepreneurship and Sports Education came to a halt. By July 2020, NGO partners resumed work and aligned to the new normal.
Centre for Wildlife Studies and Hinduja Hospital Trust.
COVID-19 emergency relief becomes the priority. 80% of annual budget allocated to new NGOs – SEEDS Foundation, Project Mumbai, ACT Grant, and Rotary Club of Delhi Premier to augment their ongoing work.
Shaku Landage came from a typical farmer household, and agriculture was her family’s main source of income. When the rains kept getting scantier over consecutive years, the family’s financial condition drastically worsened. But Shaku was made of sterner stuff and would not let the whims of nature beat her. She had heard about Swayam Shikshan Prayog- Avendus project on the training that it provided to women like her to help them set up alternate businesses and become entrepreneurs. Shaku was determined to make a fresh start and enrolled herself for the training.
At the training, she learnt about ways to run small-scale dairy and vegetable businesses and she was eager to get started on her own. With the help of SSP and Avendus, she raised a loan of INR 30,000 and purchased a cow to start her dairy business. She worked hard and soon her business was giving steady profits and she was able to repay the loan.
SSP helped making Shaku aware of the many income-generation options and equipped her to exercise this option. Her dedication and hard work did the rest.
Right shoulder instability and weakness, left shoulder mobility restrictions, left hip mobility and stability problems, chronic backache... the list was long, and time was short. Mirabai’s earlier performance at the Rio Olympics had been a disaster, with her mind caving in on the podium. She had frozen before the weights, unable to lift them. Though she had bounced back in the interim, with consistent wins at the highest international levels of her sport, her crippling health problems threatened to unleash the demons in her mind too. During this, the fluctuating pandemic wreaked havoc with the Olympic hopefuls’ training schedules. Mirabai’s coach decided to take her to the USA. Our partner, Avendus supports an NGO known as Olympic Gold Quest, along with Sports Authority of India, sponsored her 2.5 month-long trip for rehabilitation and training under a specialized American weightlifting coach. Under his expert monitoring, Mirabai regained both her fitness and confidence. Her Olympic silver for lifting a total of 202 kgs at Tokyo was the resulting outcome. We are proud of this achievement,
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the Himayalan state of Uttarakhand has recorded many deaths due to Covid-19. In terms of statistics, 3,828 deaths, or 59 per cent of the total deaths in the hill state of Uttarakhand, happened in the single month of May 2021. There was an acute shortage of medical supplies in the district hospital. In view of future waves associated with Covid-19 it was essential to augment the health infrastructure in advance to save as many lives as possible.
Through our NGO partner SEEDS, with the support from Avendus, medical supplies such as ventilators, masks, oxygen cylinders, gloves and PPE kits were provided to the District Hospital of Rudraprayag, to tackle the second and third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Industree Foundation works towards upskilling rural women artisans and helps them connect with national and global markets. Through their interventions, they have impacted over 500,000 producers in the last 20 years and have created markets worth USD 58 Million. Avendus partnered with Industree Foundation to create an impact on women's entrepreneurship through Bamboo Value chain in Karanataka region.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) is a non-governmental organization based in Pune, India. It was co-founded by Prema Gopalan and Sheela Patel in 1998 and aims to support female entrepreneurs in areas such as agriculture, health, and sanitation. Its work has been recognized by the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Avendus supports SSP for their women entrepreneurship project in Maharashtra region through supporting dairy and Agri entrepreneurship initiatives.
Pune Metropolitan District Tennis Association (PMDTA) is committed to develop a sustainable program to promote tennis for children, youth, and adults. Avendus has partnered with Pune Metropolitan District Tennis Association (PMDTA) to support deserving tennis players to empower them for national and international level matches.
Avendus has partnered with Breach Candy Hospital Trust for the construction of new wing with 11 floors and 90 beds. As a part of this project more than 50 beds will be dedicated for the patients from low socio-economic sections.
Hinduja Hospital Trust focuses on health and believes that health education is the birthright of every individual. In line with this philosophy and one of these guiding principles “Work to Give”, P.D. Hinduja Hospital has been providing charitable treatment to the poor and needy since inception. Avendus has partnered with Hinduja Hospital Trust to provide charitable treatment to needy patients and to conduct rural camps for the underprivileged.
Deshpande Foundation was established in 1996 in Karnataka by Dr Gururaj (Desh) Deshpande and Jayshree Deshpande to accelerate the creation of sustainable and scalable enterprises that have significant social and economic impact. The Foundation which has large-scale projects in the United States and India aims at promoting entrepreneurship and innovation at the grassroots level as a catalyst for change. Moreover, Avendus supports Deshpande Foundation for the food cluster project and dehydration machines in the Karnataka region.
Collective Good Foundation (CGF) provides comprehensive project implementation solutions for the development sector. They work closely with companies, non-profits, and foundations to address some of the most challenging issues in healthcare, education, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), and women's empowerment. Avendus has partnered with CGF to empower women through the returnable grant model project in the Maharashtra region.
Olympic Gold Quest is a program of the Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games, a Not-for-Profit Company, which is committed to bridging the gap between the best athletes in India and the best athletes in the world thus helping Indian athletes to win Olympic Gold medals. Avendus has been supporting OGQ for the training of athletes for Olympic and Paralympics.
Industree Foundation works towards upskilling rural women artisans and helps them connect with national and global markets. Through their interventions, they have impacted over 500,000 producers in the last 20 years and have created markets worth USD 58 Million. Avendus has partnered with Industree Foundation to create an impact on women entrepreneurship through Bamboo Value chain in Karanataka region.
“Best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others” – Mahatma Gandhi
As a part of CSR engagement, Avendus focuses on employee volunteering. Through various events and field visits employees engage in spending quality time with our CSR project beneficiaries.
In 2019-2020, Avendus Group collaborated with 5 NGOs focusing on two areas - Women Entrepreneurship and Sports Training. Over the past year, our relationship with these partners has only grown stronger.
This time around, we hosted Avendus Impact Day 2020, where current partners, new NGOs and passionate Avenders presented their vision for the coming year. With an ambition to deepen our impact, we celebrated our NGO partners’ inspiring stories and their plans for the future, all of which ensured that the event was a roaring success.
In partnership with Avendus CSR, Antarang has launched its ‘career ready’ program. The idea is to champion women’s entrepreneurial dreams by connecting young and eager students with experienced mentors from Avendus for a period of one year.
"It takes six grams of gold to lift the worth of a nation."
Arjuna Award
winner and CEO of Olympic Gold Quest, Viren Rasquinha, visited Avendus to
shed light on the benefits of investment in sports. He introduced the
Avenders to OGQ and explained its mission to put India on the global map by
helping Indian athletes win gold medals at the Olympics.
Avenders embarked on their first field visit with our partners at Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP). We met 70+ small business owners in Wagholi and Osmanabad, which will aid us on our journey of helping marginalized women become self-sufficient entrepreneurs.
Avendus visited Sarola in Latur, Maharashtra with our CSR partners Swayam Shikshan Prayog. We had the privilege of meeting trailblazing women entrepreneurs who are collectively building sustainable dairy and allied agriculture businesses.
In 2019, Avendus held “Live Pitch”, as a first CSR event, and invited eight NGOs working in women entrepreneurship to present their projects to an eminent panel of jury members. The ones selected would win grants from Avendus. It was our honor to host Mrs. Rajshree Birla, Mr. Amit Chandra, Ms. Samina Vaziralli and Ms. Ameera Shah, who were all well-known philanthropists, as our jury members for that event.
They picked two winning pitches. Our first winner, Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), has been empowering grassroot women’s collectives for the last 20 years, and has helped 1.5 lakh women to become entrepreneurs. Second winner, Antarang Foundation envisions a world in which every young person passionately and productively pursues a career of his/her choice. They have transformed the lives of over 50,000 vulnerable youth, especially young women. Through this event, employees were involved in creating leadership and awareness about our CSR projects.
Joy of Giving Week celebrated in 2022 at Avendus with its NGO partners with following objectives
As an impact of this event
Avendus has organized employee engagement visits to our CSR project site. Two such visits were conducted with our partner NGO Swayam Shikshan Prayog at the field site in Latur – Maharashtra region. SSP had been providing training to women in these regions in areas like dairy farming, cattle care, improving milk quality, organic farming of vegetables and pulses and vermicomposting.
These visits focused on
Employee engagement visits were helpful for employee volunteers to get exposure to CSR programs supported by Avendus and sensitized for one of our thrust areas - women's entrepreneurship.
As a part of support to Sports education Avendus in partnerships with NGOs empowers players in table tennis, football and supports athletes including para-athlete to participate in various national and international competitions.
Friendly matches have been organized between these players and Avendus employees to sensitize employees and to engage them with our project beneficiaries.