‘Driving a lasting and scalable change’
Bikkrama Daulet Singh, operating partner, The Convergence Foundation (TCF, a philanthropic initiative that works towards rapid and sustained economic growth), interacts closely with several of its portfolio organisations, including Air Pollution Action Group (A-PAG), Sports & Society Accelerator (SSA) and ChangeInkk.
His role involves supporting the leadership team towards sharpening the strategy and driving growth, as also anchoring TCF’s efforts around evangelising system reform. Singh’s expertise in school education spans across Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, EdTech, and India’s private school sector. He shares his view on the recent report. Excerpts:
How do you define systems change?
Our report on systems change that was recently published – Systemic impact exemplars: unique approaches towards solving India’s development challenges – is a first-of-its-kind attempt to understand systems change in the Indian context. Government systems, such as education, healthcare, transport, as well as private markets, often do not fully serve the needs of the populations that they are designed to serve. Typically, the segments that are excluded are the ones most in need – women, children and the economically or socially disadvantaged. Most civil society organisations aim to fill this gap by creating parallel systems that are sub-scale and rarely ever address the root causes. However, a few organisations attempt to work within the system to fix the gaps in these systems. In our definition, systems change aims to solve problems at their roots by focussing on making the systems more effective and/or efficient and/ or equitable, so that it serves the populations that it is designed to serve, in the first place. We believe that such systems change initiatives display, if not all, a majority of the following four characteristics -- address root causes of the problems; aim for population level impact; design for sustainability; and create shifts in values and mindsets. We refer to organisations that adopt systems change as System Support Organisations (SSOs). SSOs recognise that the government is the primary actor in addressing India’s growth and development challenges and that it is imperative to work with them to create sustainable population-level impact.
Secondly, SSOs get to the root-causes of problems to develop long-term solutions, avoiding quick fixes or strait-jacket solutions. Our latest report profiles 20 leading Indian SSOs that have successfully created systemic impact. It outlines a detailed model of how SSOs can adopt systems change including outward programmes and practices, as well as internal organisational building efforts.
How can systems change help towards solving India’s development challenges?
The Central and state governments in India have already spent a lot on social and economic development. In 2022-23, the cumulative social expenditure by the Central and state governments amounted to R21.03 lakh crore, according to the RBI. However, despite substantial investments by the government, there is still potential for accelerating progress towards achieving India’s development goals. By way of the 20 exemplar SSOs profiled, the report demonstrates that adopting systems change is key to address India’s complex problems at scale, and irreversibly. These exemplars function at the intersection of, and leverage the work of, government, markets, nonprofits that deliver services and academic/research bodies. Their distinctive contribution has been helping build the consensus, identifying and addressing policy gaps, creating proof points of large-scale success, building required coalitions, creating public goods, helping build the systems’ capabilities, changing mindsets and unlocking funding. However, the journey of systems change is not a linear and easy path. While, globally, there is a body of knowledge available on systems change, we found that most of it is not grounded in the Indian context and is bereft of Indian examples. To address this issue, in this report, TCF and its knowledge partner India Impact Sherpas have captured learnings from 20 systems change exemplars, hoping to inform and inspire other SPOs and funders.
What are the key enablers and internal organisational building frameworks included in the report?
The report highlights the importance of inward-looking processes that encompass various aspects of organisational development. These processes range from fostering systems change orientation at the leadership level to aligning with funders, who understand that this approach may not yield immediate results. Additionally, building a diverse talent pool within the organisation is crucial. These internal structures and cultural elements are essential for creating resilient and enduring organisations capable of making a long-term systemic impact.