Feature

Empowering Rural India: Lifting a Million People Out of Poverty Every Five Years

Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala's Inspiring Journey of Building Swades Foundation for Over a Decade

GivingPi Editorial Team

28th September 2023

"In the realm of philanthropy, our connection with the community becomes the catalyst that allows us to re-invent every day. Their feedback, ever-evolving aspirations, and transformative mindset propel us forward shaping our path for the days, months, and years ahead. Trust and mutual connection with the community form the very foundation of our philanthropy, without which one cannot achieve anything."

In 2012, Ronnie Screwvala turned to his wife, Zarina, with an audacious idea, “Why don’t we work to lift a million people out of poverty?” And Zarina replied, “Why not try?” This may sound over ambitious until one realizes that in just 10 years, their philanthropic efforts have impacted 2,700 hamlets across Raigad and Nashik districts of Maharashtra impacting over 7,50,000 people from 1,60,000 households.

"It was such a crazy idea," recalls Zarina, reflecting on that pivotal moment. "But it was precisely the audacity and awareness of the challenges ahead that compelled us to take it up. We were not afraid to fail, we were eager to learn a lot, and thus, Swades Foundation was born."

Starting Slow, Building Intentionally

Swades Foundation – Zarina and Ronnie Screwvala’s nonprofit organization and philanthropic venture – was born of the couple’s determination to commit more of themselves to philanthropy. Following the divestment of their UTV Motion Pictures shares to Disney in 2012, they set their sights on an audacious goal: to uplift a million people out of poverty, a vision some might dismiss as a mere pipe dream.

With newfound financial means and a keen desire to actively participate in the process, the decision to invest in their giving was natural. They embraced the belief that personal commitment, focus, and rigor were paramount in effective philanthropy. Ronnie emphasized, “While money can catalyze change and be an enabler, it is the combination of time, dedication, and personal engagement that creates lasting impact.” This guiding philosophy led them to make a pivotal decision – to establish and operate their own nonprofit rather than solely rely on traditional grant-making.

However, Zarina and Ronnie’s journey in philanthropy had begun much earlier, with the establishment of a day-care facility for adults with mental disabilities and the founding of SHARE (Society to Heal Aid Restore Educate), a nonprofit dedicated to water conservation in rural Raigad during the 1990s. “Philanthropy started very early for us, even before monetary contributions were feasible,” Ronnie noted.

As they progressed and transformed SHARE into Swades Foundation, they examined what sort of organization they wanted to build and the kind of development model they wanted to employ. And to do so, the couple embarked on a year-long learning journey within the social sector. This expedition included a visit to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of BRAC in Bangladesh, where they studied his holistic model of community development. Here, they discovered an integrated approach to poverty alleviation that resonated perfectly with their vision for Swades Foundation.

A Holistic, Community Centric, Collaborative Approach to Philanthropy

Today, Swades Foundation stands resolute in pursuit of its audacious mission—to transform one million rural lives every five to seven years. To achieve their goal, the organization has built its model on four pillars, each representing a crucial aspect of their approach.

The first pillar is a comprehensive 360° intervention inside-out model of development, with a multiplier effect. This holistic approach covers all aspects of individual and community development through four key verticals – Health & Nutrition, Education, Water & Sanitation and Economic Development.

Second is their focus on geography – the Foundation strategically operates by rolling out its complex, deep intervention model within a carefully selected geography. In the initial phases this helped tremendously to test their model, allowing the Foundation to pivot with each new geography. Today, it operates in 11 blocks of Nashik and Raigad.

Third is their unwavering focus on being community-centric, ensuring that their impact reaches the most vulnerable. Each inroad into a community is made with great deliberation, with numerous factors weighed. The Foundation studies which block and district they want to enter, considering the density of population, migration, politics, sensitivities, and the presence of other nonprofits, and importantly understanding the village's most crucial needs. But for Zarina and the team, what is most important is the communities’ demonstrated willingness to embrace the Swades model. They need to be willing to offer their time and energy towards solving their own problems. Zarina shared, “This is what we call the ‘Swa Se Bane Des’ attitude. This is what we look for initially in maybe two or three potential community leaders and then help create and foster a sense of ownership and empowerment in the village.”

An instance of community-led change was seen in Patilpada, the first tribal hamlet in Surgana, Nashik, where Swades Foundation undertook the establishment of individual toilets. Initially, the families of Patilpada expressed hesitancy in contributing INR 500 towards these toilets. To inspire community members, the approach taken was to encourage only capable families to make contributions, assuring them of a refund from the corpus, in case the project failed. Today, more than 50 families in Patilpada have household toilets and the hamlet is on the path of being open defecation free.

Embracing the power of collaboration forms the fourth pillar of Swades Foundation's model. “We believe strongly in collaboration, we try not to reinvent anything and look long and hard for suitable partners for all our programs,” Zarina said, of the wide network of partnerships Swades Foundation has fostered with government, nonprofits, corporates, and local communities to galvanise grassroots change.

However, an endeavour as ambitious as theirs is not without its challenges and learning opportunities.

A student presenting her science project to Ronnie and Zarina Screwvala

"It took a lot of courage to acknowledge our shortcomings. You can always say it's only one village, only two, only three... But you should never do that. You must acknowledge the fault-lines, take cognisance of it, because that little virus can spread."

- Zarina Screwvala

How Swades Foundation is empowering rural India

Fostering a Learning Mindset and Embracing Failure

In the beginning, Swades Foundation’s conception of community-building was unilateral, a top-down approach that decided what villagers needed and how to give it to them. Zarina shared, “Our most important learning was the switch from a charity approach to an empowerment approach. Initially, we came up with a goal-oriented approach. A push approach – ‘take a cow; take a goat; take this water; take this toilet.’’ But we realized this sense of empowerment that we were committed to was not being fostered and communities were becoming dependent.”

Acknowledging this shortcoming demanded immense courage, as Zarina highlighted. Instead of dismissing isolated incidents, Swades Foundation embraced the importance of recognizing and addressing fault-lines in their approach. She explained, “For us this was our biggest challenge – How to create truly empowered communities? We took our entire team on board, planned carefully for almost 8 months and created a well thought through solution – The Village Development Committees (VDCs) – which we tested in a new geographic block. Today, it’s our greatest strength.”

Taking stock of the situation, Swades Foundation transformed its development model, giving rise to the VDCs, its flagship construct. Each VDC consists of 50 per cent women and adequate representation from the youth and elderly to identify the needs of the village and mobilise action to meet them.

Zarina with community members supported by Swades Foundation

Two Decades of Learning

Ten years after the million-dollar question was raised, and 20 years after Zarina and Ronnie’s initial foray into philanthropy, Swades Foundation has grown to 300 employees, 10,000 community volunteers, and 35 partners serving 2,700 villages and most significantly three quarters of a million people across Nashik and Raigad in Maharashtra.

Here’s how they did it.

1. Knowing which funds can be used as risk capital

Philanthropists should always experiment on their own money, particularly when they’re just starting out, Zarina recommended. “In the beginning, it was challenging, we were in unchartered territory, working with a high degree of complexity, so, we preferred to use our own funds initially."

As funders, it’s not easy to raise money, because one has to demonstrate the value of their work to other donors (CSR or individuals) despite having a foundation of their own. To make this easier, Zarina advised against running pilot programs with external funding, particularly corporate funds. “Choose a foundation over a corporate if you want to experiment. Once you've tested and scaled successfully, you can approach corporates. Today we have many wonderful and long-term corporate partners.”

2. Partnering with the government for scale

With three decades of media industry experience, Zarina and Ronnie recognize the power of collaboration. Just as one person can't fulfil all roles in filmmaking, scaling operations requires working with the government.

Ronnie emphasized the importance of early engagement and apprising the government of one’s work. He said, “Collaborating with the government provides access to valuable learnings, systems, and resources and if they're doing what you want to do, why reinvent the wheel? Work in collaboration with them. We consider working with the government a great strength.”

3. Empowering communities by empowering your team

Zarina underscored the significance of having a strong team, stating, "As nonprofits, we work through our people, so we must empower our teams first. When they feel empowered, they can empower others." Swades Foundation ensures that all goals, objectives, and decisions align with their values and are transparently communicated, both internally and with their communities.

By documenting everything, from water requirements to toilet standards, Swades Foundation fosters foresight and clear communication across different verticals in the organization, which has enabled them to retain their department heads for more than six years, showcasing the effectiveness of this approach.

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Ronnie and Zarina in a storytelling workshop with school children

Vision Towards India@100

To commemorate India’s 75th year of independence, Swades Foundation along with the communities it supports celebrated 75 Dream Villages and are moving towards 750. As India approaches 100 years of independence, Ronnie and Zarina reflect on their audacious pledge to lift a million people out of poverty. The revised manifesto would say they want to create a model of development that can lift a million people from poverty, though they now acknowledge it may take longer than the initially envisioned five years—perhaps seven or even ten. Zarina humorously remarked, "When we began, we were young and audacious; now we're older and wiser...but still young in our own way!"

Looking ahead, Zarina and Ronnie hope for philanthropy to grow both in depth and width. Zarina emphasized the need for smarter, more collaborative giving, alongside a growing number of individuals embracing giving as a habit. “Everyone can give, you don’t have to be old and very rich, and we welcome all to join us, learn with us before beginning their own journey,” she said. Ronnie further added his perspective, highlighting India's unique identity as a nation of contrasts, diverse cultures, and strong family values. He stressed, “As India approaches 100 years of independence, I envision a country with an inclusive way of life, empathy, and an ever-growing ambition to be second to none. Embracing the spirit of giving back should become a natural calling for all, with the youth of India leading the way, contributing their time, resources, and intellect, extending far beyond monetary contributions."