CSR Partnerships for Innovation

Innovation with JSW Foundation ft. Ashwini Saxena

Investments in climate tech in India are growing at a fast pace, amounting to over $800 million in the first half of 2022 alone. It is important to invest in technologies and infrastructure to help communities adapt to the crisis already at hand. It is hence critical to develop models to address climate change mitigation with interventions that are strategic, measurable, and sustainable. To shed more light on these aspects in this episode of CSR Partnerships for Innovation, we are joined by Mr Ashwini Saxena, CEO at the JSW Foundation. Ashwini has over 30 years of experience across India and Africa with reputed developmental organisations such as UNIDO, IFC, World Bank and many, many corporates. Host: Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy | ⁠Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikrishnas/] Guest: Ashwini Saxena | Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwinisaxena1/] Producer: Anagha Wankhede Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Music: "Welcome To India" by Steve Oxen

Innovation with Cisco ft. Harish Krishnan

CSR spending in India is concentrated in a few sectors, including education and healthcare. Less than 1% of the CSR funds are channelled towards incubators to support social enterprises. To understand the criticality of CSR backing for scalable and impactful solutions through social enterprises, we have with us today, Mr. Harish Krishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Engagements at Cisco India and SAARC. Harish leads Cisco's strategic engagement with India's national and state governments on a wide range of public policy issues that concern Cisco in India. Host: Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy | ⁠Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikrishnas/] Guest: Harish Krishnan | Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/harish-krishnan-0bbb99/?originalSubdomain=in] Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Music: "Welcome To India" by Steve Oxen

Innovation with Alstom ft. Sapna Bhawnani

When the very DNA of a company is imbued with purposeful community action and giving back to society, innovation thrives. In this episode, Krishna speaks with Sapna Bhawnani from Alstom, an organisation at the forefront of driving innovation in India's sustainable mobility sector. Sapna has played a pivotal role in shaping Alstom's CSR strategy in India, and she shares her incredible journey to foster innovation, her personal learnings, as well as ideas for others looking to integrate innovation as part of CSR. Sapna Bhawnani currently leads Communications & CSR of the Asia Pacific Region at Alstom. She has been associated with Alstom in various capacities in India and internationally since 2008. --- Contents 00:00-Podcast Introduction 01:38-Introduction to Sapna and Alstom's CSR approach 05:08-Introducing Innovation in CSR 09:08-What Outcomes should CSR Achieve? 13:38-Evolution of Alstom's Innovation Programme 17:04-New Leverages in CSR Partnerships 18:24-The Role of CSR Compliance in Innovation 19:57-Growing the Portfolio 21:32-Advice for CSRs looking to get into Innovation 23:51-Building an Ecosystem to Support Innovation 25:04-The Joy of Innovation 26:30-Summary and Outro --- Host: Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy | ⁠⁠LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikrishnas/] ⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikrishnas/]Guest: Sapna Bhawnani | ⁠LinkedIn⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sapna-bhawnani-0526b425/] Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Music: "Welcome To India" by Steve Oxen

Innovation with Mercedes-Benz R&D India ft. Shweta Pandey

Mercedes-Benz has made a substantial name for themselves and their products through innovation. Shweta Pandey joins Krishna for this episode of CSR Partnerships for Innovation to share the evolution of how MBRDI elevated innovation in how they fund CSR initiatives, and she shares some of her personal favourite initiatives, as well as sound advice for others looking to integrate innovation as part of their CSR strategy. Shweta Pandey leads the legal and compliance portfolio at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India. As part of her role, she is also responsible for corporate social responsibility, where she has undertaken CSR activities across different thematic areas including fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable mobility. ------ Host: Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy | ⁠LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikrishnas/] Guest: Shweta Pandey | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shwetapandey83/] Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Music: "Welcome To India" by Steve Oxen

Innovation with Akamai ft. Neha Jain

In this episode of CSR Partnerships for Innovation, Krishna sat down with Neha Jain from Akamai. She shared the story of how Akamai’s flagship programme got started, and how at the intersection of technology and impact, Akamai is evolving their CSR strategy. With Akamai’s focus on innovation and their earnest efforts to encourage, mentor, and fund entrepreneurs with incredible solutions, Neha shares how her story has evolved with Akamai’s CSR innovation journey. Neha Jain is the Director of Operations and Innovation and Co-chair of the CSR Trust at Akamai Technologies, which has been promoting innovative solutions to solve India’s water crisis. For more, follow Sattva Knowledge Institute on our Website [https://www.sattva.co.in/knowledge-institute/], Linkedin [inkedin.com/company/sattva-knowledge-institute/], Twitter [https://twitter.com/sattvaknowledge] and, Instagram: @sattvaknowledgeinstitute Host: Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy | ⁠Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikrishnas/] Guest: Neha Jain | Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehajain12/] Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Audio Engineer & Editor: Abhilash Raikar Designer: Usha Sondhi Kundu Music: Credit to https://www.FesliyanStudios.com for the background music. Content Chapters: * 0:00 - Podcast Introduction * 01:42 - Introduction to Akamai and Neha Jain * 02:40 - CSR at Akamai and how it has evolved * 04:22 - How Akamai sees CSR in India * 08:41 - The story of how Akamai first transitioned to innovation in CSR * 22:02 - CSR Compliance and internal discussions * 28:59 - Stand out innovations & next steps for Akamai's Flagship Programme * 34:28 - Advice for the CSR ecosystem * 36:46 - Summary and thanks