Driving Sustainable Development

Since its inception 22 years ago, the Mukul Madhav Foundation (MMF), which works in the development sector, has grown multi-fold in all aspects. Alongside their work in India, they have established MMF UK to provide support to the marginalized sections of society. 

MMF’s projects, spread over a variety of fields, have scalable strategies with dynamic implications. Not only scalable, their projects are goal-oriented with definitive impact, and centred around a budget with a concrete sustainability plan. They work around the key motto of collaboration and not competition. This has helped MMF move forward with its work and establish a name for itself. 

For any foundation to survive, it is essential to build a network of people who do and will continue to support the foundation’s initiatives and future causes. Collaborating with ground implementation partners is vital to ensuring a project is successfully completed. 

Managing tasks on time as assigned to a team and its members, and meeting targets attached to each task is just as important as the overall strategies and goals of MMF. An organisation like that does not work on individual efforts.

For successful execution and impactful work, combined efforts and communal cognition are key. Inculcating strong interpersonal skills in each member of the foundation ensures smoother functioning. 

Every enterprise however faces certain issues, and all is not smooth sailing for them. Speaking to BW Businessworld Ritu Prakash Chhabria, Managing Trustee of MMF says, “Several obstacles arise with the lack of collaboration between like-minded people in public-private partnership projects. After the implementation of a project, its sustainability becomes a commonly faced issue. Implementation partners often get stuck when structuring strategies for the implementation of a project. Ground partners often escape accountability, which can create a ripple effect up the chain.”

According to Chhabria, overcoming these challenges requires in-depth analysis and personal involvement in each step of implementation as well as post-implementation. For this MMF has been engaging proactively with the local communities, involving local government bodies to ensure sufficient monitoring and supervision is done on a timely basis, and promoting public private partnerships. 

“It is very important to let your team members take ownership of certain tasks and become the experts of an area they are most interested in. Giving this accountability means that you have to delegate more and trust your team to deliver. Direct them but do not micromanage them,” says Chhabria. 

In the near future, MMF is looking to expand nationally and internationally while promoting greater inclusivity among marginalised communities in India