Pepal Innovation in India Programme: Development With a Difference

LONDON, March 8, 2010 - Social enterprise, Pepal, launches its new executive development
programme - Innovation in India. Private-sector professionals will work with
Indian non-profit organisations, tackling issues such as HIV/AIDS, child
health and women's rights. Each participant will be paired with a non-profit
partner and after receiving management and innovation training from the LSE
will deliver their own project for a unique personal development experience.

Pepal today launches its Innovation in India programme, providing a fresh
approach to executive development. The programme pairs private-sector
professionals, over a six month period, with senior staff from Indian
non-profit organisations to devise and deliver community projects in India,
tackling complex problems such as HIV/AIDS, women's empowerment and youth
unemployment. Partners will also receive joint training by LSE Professor of
Innovation and Management, Harry Barkema, to arm them with the theoretical
tools they need to conceive and implement these new business initiatives.

What sets the Innovation in India programme apart is the introduction of
management training into the leveraging of private sector skills in a
non-profit environment. The training component allows for the creation of
more equitable partnerships and thereby significantly increases the knowledge
exchange, both theoretical and practical, between participants.

Julie Saunders, Executive Director of Pepal, comments: "I expect this to
be a life-changing journey for many of our private-sector participants. They
will be working on challenging problems in new and often difficult
circumstances. It will push them to innovate, reflect on and develop their
personal and management skills."

"It's a win-win situation because our non-profit participants will also
learn from their private sector partners. They are very excited to receive
support in reaching the communities they serve. Some of the projects they
have already identified include establishing income-generating businesses for
women; setting up a training centre for health charities, and designing a web
based initiative to support fundraising for maternal and adolescent health."

About Pepal: Pepal is a social enterprise that was set up in 2009 to
facilitate partnerships between the private and non-profit sectors to bring
about sustainable social change in the developing world. Pepal is supported
by Fondation Hoffmann and has programmes with INSEAD that focus on health
systems internationally.

For more information visit: pepal.org/innovation-in-india/ or
email: diya.raj@pepal.org, phone: +44(0)2077591822

For more information visit: pepal.org/innovation-in-india/ or email: diya.raj at pepal.org, phone: +44(0)2077591822