About the session

Social sector work rarely happens through one organisation alone. Development organisations often work with communities, governments, funders, businesses, networks, collectives and local institutions. This makes the work deeply collaborative, but also complex.

This session will explore what it means to manage partnerships, networks and collective action in the social sector. It will look at the skills needed to coordinate across different actors, build trust, manage day-to-day operations, and work towards long-term social change.

The discussion will help participants understand why professionals in the social sector need more than functional management skills. They also need the ability to understand institutions, work across boundaries, engage with communities and navigate the realities of development practice.

Who should attend?

This session will be useful for:

• Professionals interested in roles that involve partnerships, programmes or field operations
• Social sector practitioners working with NGOs, foundations, collectives or public systems
• Corporate professionals interested in CSR, sustainability, foundations or social impact roles
• Candidates who want to understand the complexity of development sector careers

Why attend?

You will get a clearer understanding of:

• Why collaboration is central to social sector work
• What it takes to work across organisations, government, communities and businesses
• Why development managers need both management skills and sectoral understanding
• How the Executive MBA in Development Management can help professionals prepare for such roles

About the speakers

Ved Arya is a serial social entrepreneur, an IIT Kanpur aeronautical engineering graduate, and an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus. He is the founder of SRIJAN, RCRC and The Buddha Institute, organisations that have significantly advanced women’s empowerment, sustainable rural livelihoods and social entrepreneurship. Through these initiatives, he has helped build community institutions, strengthened NGO collaborations across India, and created ecosystems that support development entrepreneurs, particularly women, in driving social impact.

Rangu Rao is the CEO of Safe Harvest Private Limited, a farmer-owned enterprise working with 30 Farmer Producer Organisations across 11 states to promote synthetic pesticide-free agriculture and improve market access for over 100,000 small and marginal farmers, most of whom are women. A co-founder of Samaj Pragati Sahayog, he has over 25 years of experience in sustainable livelihoods, watershed development and rural development. He has chaired the Government of India’s MGNREGA Working Group for the 12^th Five-Year Plan, and under his leadership, Safe Harvest has been recognised by UNESCAP for advancing inclusive business models in agriculture and food systems.