Naveen says: “To me Sikander is the face of entrepreneurship in second tier cities and villages. This is the geography that matter the most in India for next billion people.
I’ve always believed in the power of passionate youths solving complex issues that matter the most. On one hand we have innumerable problems and then we are fortunate to have enough number of problem-solvers who, if given an opportunity, are ready to come out of their comfort zones, think big, act right and make a big difference in the lives of many. Sikandar Meeranaik and his effort with SRDS is one such bright example.
I’ve known Sikandar ever since his graduation days and encouraged him to work on his dream and strength of “water for all”. I’ve seen the inception, challenges and the steady growth of SRDS since 2008.
As a Chief Mentor, it’s exciting to see the organization’s tremendous leap of faith and its journey from just two districts in North West Karnataka to ten states in India. It’s heartening that the end- to-end entrepreneurial trait of SRDS has enabled it to work across the country with multiple stakeholders in the best interest of marginal farmers and women from socially backward communities.
I’m happy to be associated with SRDS bringing my expertise on to the table to empower the rural communities that SRDS envisages empowering. With growth and recognition comes more responsibility and the team at SRDS is all set to take up new challenges, new assignments and new victory to harvest more water for rural communities and bring wider smiles on the faces of marginalized farmers. More power to the team.”
Naveen Jha to his credit has various path breaking development models including the one in water harvesting. As CEO of Deshpande Foundation, Naveen had launched ‘Neer Sinchina’ as India’s only paid for program by farmer and later was adapted by Panchayats. Over 5000 ponds were constructed, covering more than 20000 acres in North Karnataka with minimal grant support. As a Mentor Naveen has worked with several scaling organizations in expanding their water harvesting and integrated farming work. He has both directly executed and closely mentored organizations working with diverse models of spring rejuvenation; lake restoration; tail end farm pond; watershed; underground recharging in flood plains; bore well recharging; tree based farming and so on.
Cumulatively over 5 lakh farmers were impacted during his tenure as CEO at DF. Naveen believes that it is highly possible to make water accessible to farmers provided the relevant region-specific water harvesting technology, robust execution and revenue models and investment in creating and proving the demand for water harvesting is done. Sikander is one of the shining example of that.
Naveen’s advice and assistance to SRDS is of immense assistance to Sikandar Meeranaik. He offers strategic program inputs, advice and encouragement for empowering communities in the work of SRDS and continues to be of great value to extend the work of rainwater harvesting and the parallel support of the rural population of India.
Naveen had launched DF operations as a single team member to grow it to become 500 members with and overall impacting over 2 million families. He launched one of the most nuanced Skill Programs in India, graduating over 6000 young people, many of whom have launched their own social enterprises. Besides he has replicated the Sandbox Ecosystem model in India and abroad in various variations. Naveen has served at Karnataka Knowledge and Technological Mission, and has received State honour from the Telangana Government.
In 2022, he was appointed as a highly distinguished Senior Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) Fellow at the prestigious Harvard Business School, Harvard University. Naveen is renowned for his unwavering passion for using innovation and human ingenuity to solve complex problems and create positive change in society. He firmly believes that delivering impact is the only true measure of success and is committed to transforming ideas into scalable actions.
Naveen’s incredible achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including the distinguished International Ford Foundation Fellowship in 2005 and the esteemed British Chevening Gurukul Fellowship in 2019 during his tenure at Oxford University.
Senior fellow Harvard
Board member of Ek-Kadam Aur-USA
SRDS is honoured and proud to count him as our chief mentor.
