Decoding Impact with Rathish Balakrishnan

Episode 3 | Decoding Impact – Season 4 Host: Rathish Balakrishnan, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Sattva ConsultingGuest: Shilpa Kumar, Managing Director & Head of India, British International InvestmentIndia needs $2.5 trillion by 2030 to reach its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) - climate action plans submitted under the Paris Agreement. As the climate crisis worsens, the role of climate finance and especially Development Finance Institutions, in becoming a catalyst for transformative solutions is more important than ever. In this illuminating episode, Shilpa Kumar decodes climate finance: its purpose, gaps, and types of funders. From smart metres to the Mumbai metro, she draws on her own work to offer sharp perspectives on solving for climate change at scale. Through their complementary experiences and viewpoints, Rathish and Shilpa bring context-rich insights on India’s climate landscape, while exchanging stories that show it is possible to combat climate change.Key Topics Discussed1. Current state of climate finance (India and internationally), the existing gaps, and the role DFIs play2. Enabling tailwinds for climate finance3. Climate interventions in mobility4. What initiatives are powered under climate finance?5. The case of smart metres: the importance of last-mile distribution6. How to manage the perceived risk of climate investment7. How India can attract more capital for climate action8. Adaptation & resilience - gaps, stories, and climate financing for it9. Why MSMEs struggle to go green10. State capacity at the city level11. Role of philanthropy in climate finance

Episode 2 | Decoding Impact – Season 4  Host: Rathish Balakrishnan, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Sattva ConsultingGuests: Sohini Bhattacharya, Independent Consultant - Gender and Leadership & Senior Advisor, Accelerator for Shifting Gender Norms Through EducationErin Ganju, Managing Director - Accelerator for Shifting Gender Norms through EducationWhat are gender norms? How do they impact a woman’s ability to work or study? And most importantly, can they be changed?In this episode of #DecodingImpact, Sohini Bhattacharya and Erin Ganju weigh in with deep insights, inspirational stories, and moving anecdotes drawn from their decades-long experience in working with communities and shifting gender norms.The conversation explores the reality of deeply embedded norms, the negative impact of women’s limited participation in the workforce, and the role of all stakeholders - from schools to families - in bringing about societal transformation.Key Topics DiscussedUnderstanding gender normsThe negative impact of women’s limited participation in the workforce on families, communities, and nationsGender norms are hard to change, but it’s possibleEngaging adolescents in important conversationsHow patriarchy also harms boys and menThe role of schools, teachers, and parentsMobilising communities to support gender equalityHow systems and organisations can drive lasting change

Episode 1 | Decoding Impact – Season 4 Host: Rathish Balakrishnan, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Sattva ConsultingGuest: Dr. R. Balasubramaniam (Dr. Balu), Member–HR, Capacity Building Commission (Government of India) and Chairperson, Social Stock Exchange Advisory Committee (SEBI)This thought-provoking episode of Decoding Impact spotlights the evolution of state capacity in India and its critical role in India's development. It features an in-depth conversation with Dr Balu, an acclaimed development scholar, author, and founder of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), as he shares powerful insights from over four decades of work spanning grassroots development, advising major institutions, and shaping public policy from within the system.Together, they explore the paradoxes of India’s relationship with its government, the tension between public reliance and skepticism, the evolution of the state from a colonial apparatus to a citizen-centric enabler, and the deep-rooted challenge of building effective state capacity.Rathish and Dr. Balu also unpack the historical, philosophical, and practical lessons behind public administration in India, with reflections from the Ramayana to the present-day Mission Karmayogi initiative.Key Topics Discussed1. The true meaning and evolution of state capacity in India2. Why “training is for circus animals”, rethinking capacity building beyond repetitive skills3. Lessons from India’s heritage on governance4. The shift from individual heroism in bureaucracies to system-wide effectiveness5. Why civil service competencies must be rooted in historical and cultural contexts6. The on-ground realities: workforce shortages and systemic performance barriers in public service7. How Mission Karmayogi aims to future-proof India’s civil services for a tech-enabled, citizen-centered future8. The shared responsibility of citizens and the state in nation-building#StateCapacity #Governance #India #PublicPolicy #SocialImpact #MissionKarmayogi #Leadership #podcast

From the macro to the micro and everything in between, in this episode of Decoding Impact, Manish Sabharwal illuminates the economics of India's current job market and the systemic levers needed to thrust India into grasping its full potential as an economy, society and nation. As one of the foremost experts on India's job market and the plight of Education in India today, Manish shares his expert insights, critical frameworks, and orbit-shifting views on how India can address its challenges at scale across its diverse geography, complex beaurocracy, and challenging education system. Some of the key insights he shares with host Rathish Balakrishnan include: • India does not have an unemployment issue, but a wages issue & there are five key levers where this can be addressed • However, across these five drivers regulatory cholesterol is a key limiting factor to India's labour market • Addressing the discrepancies between formality and informality means solving for poverty • Moving beyond the current drudgery in education requires five key design principles • Apprenticeships need to play a more significant role in how India is skilling its future workforce • We need clarity of vision in what education is giving children in India, which includes the traditional three "r's", but also important soft skills Manish elucidates each insight with clarifying data and global comparisons to ground the Indian story of where our labour market is today, and where it could be in as little as five years time with certain critical changes. Tune into the latest episode from season three of Decoding Impact today! Manish Sabharwal is is Vice-Chairman of TeamLease Services, one of India’s leading staffing and human capital firm. Additionally, he co-founded India Life, an HR outsourcing company in 1996, and is a member of the National Skill Mission, Central Advisory Board of Education and has served on various policy committees for education, employment and employability.

The Indian energy sector is at a critical juncture. Electricity consumption, a key indicator of economic growth, has grown significantly over the past 50-60 years, and India is primed to leapfrog into a sustainably powered future. This transition calls for a robust policy foundation, technological advancements in demand-supply and storage mechanisms, and a keen study of economic incentives for users of green energy. In this episode of Decoding Impact, Rathish Balakrishnan is in conversation with scientist Dr. Nikit Abhyankar to unpack the unique opportunity India has, to transition to renewable energy, with economic viability and technological feasibility at the centre. Through this conversation, you will learn about: • The interplay between energy consumption and economic growth; • The potential for the energy sector to leapfrog mirroring India's telecom boom; • The policy environment, key shifts necessary in demand management, and • The role of digital public infrastructure (DPI) in facilitating efficient energy transactions. Tune into this latest episode of Decoding Impact today! Dr Nikit Abhyankar is a Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a Senior Scientist at the Center for Environmental Public Policy of the University of California, Berkeley. Dr Abhyankar has conducted extensive research and policy analysis on a range of key energy issues such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric vehicles, and energy access in the United States and key emerging economies such as India, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. He regularly advises governments, regulators, and utilities in multiple countries on designing clean energy policies and programs. Guest: Dr Nikit Abhyankar Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: Enabling Energy Transition Through Open Networks Green Roads Ahead: Decoding India's EV and Digital Public Infrastructure ft. Akhil JP & Arun VinayakDigital Public Goods Glossary

With the recent Union Budget announcement allocating ₹1.48 lakh crore to education, employment, and skilling, one question we continue to grapple with in the impact ecosystem, but in Education especially, is whether money is enough to really achieve the outcomes needed? Since Independence, Education has been the cornerstone of growth, development, and perhaps most importantly, hope for the nation. Yet, after so many decades of interventions, well-intentioned individual efforts, and the collective intent across philanthropy, the corporate sector, and government, why is Education in India still falling short of excellence? In this episode of Decoding Impact, through a rich and powerful discussion with expert guests from Avanti Fellows, Akshay Saxena, Co-founder & co-CEO, & Vandana Goyal, Managing Trustee & co-CEO, host Rathish Balakrishnan delves into challenges across scale, systems, and gender in Education today to understand what it will take to truly scale excellence in India's education system. Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Decoding ASER for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Outcomes with Dr Rukmini Banerji • Decoding Mafias, National Heroes, and the role of Government in Education ft. Anil Swarup • Barriers to Breakthroughs: Encouraging Girls’ Participation in STEM Education Guests: Akshay Saxena & Vandana Goyal Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media

Get to know more about our latest guests featured on Decoding Impact, Akhil JP & Arun Vinayak,⁠ through this revealing rapid fire! Listen to the latest episode of Decoding Impact!: 🔴⁠ ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🟣 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🔵 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🔗⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Website

India is the third largest innovation ecosystem in the world. From India's transformational growth in the IT sector to her rapid digitisation, innovation is truly having its moment in India today. However, despite this promising outlook, social innovation continues to face challenges to scale. Faced by the perennial challenge that the problems for people and planet are running faster than the solutions being created to solve them, social innovation has a critical and lasting role to play in ensuring we break the cycle of creating poor solutions for the poor. In this episode of Decoding Impact, Rathish Balakrishnan and expert guest Manoj Kumar engage in a dialogue on social innovation that is not only helpful to understand the innovation landscape in India today, but to also numerous ideas and examples of what social innovation looks like. Through this discussion you will get insight into: • India's innovation landscape • The mental models for entrepreneurs to succeed • The architecture needed for social innovation to scale • How we need to look at unlocking diverse forms of capital from across CSR and Philanthropy Tune into this latest episode of Decoding Impact today! Manoj Kumar is the founder of Social Alpha, a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform that has supported over 300 startups under his leadership. Manoj is one of the pioneering forces in India's social innovation landscape, with a wealth of expertise and hands-on experience founding startups. Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Decoding the Rupee for Rupee impact of blended finance ft. Ramraj Pai • Decoding the Role of Philanthropy in Blended Finance ft. Prachi Windlass • Guidebook: CSR and Corporate Philanthropy Towards Innovation Guest: Manoj Kumar Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media

Worldwide, roads are increasingly seeing the presence of electric vehicles (EV) and India is expected to take 30% of the EV market worldwide. However, these tailwinds are attracting many players to the EV ecosystem, from suppliers to customers, to make EVs a reality on the road. In order to ease the challenges that these stakeholders could face in coming together, Digitial Public Infrastructure could have a key role to play and could help: • Reduce frictions • Enable greater customer experience • Drive better adoption for electrical vehicles in India, especially when it comes to the charging experience To learn more about India's burgeoning EV market and understand whether the promise of DPI can enable the EV market to solve some of its current challenges, in this episode of Decoding Impact Rathish Balakrishnan is joined by Akhil Jayaprakash, co-founder at Pulse Energy, and Arun Vinayak, co-founder at Exponent Energy. Through this discussion Akhil and Arun share their expertise to help us understand who the key stakeholders are in the EV market, what is the user experience when it comes to EV today in India, and what unification using DPI could look like in the EV market. Explore some of our SKI products related to this topic: • Decoding the Economics of MSMEs and why they should leverage Digital Public Infrastructure ft. Neelkanth Mishra • Decoding Account Aggregators with Shalini Gupta • Decoding India’s DPI Learnings for the Global South with Prof. S Rajagopalan • Decoding Digital Public Goods & Digital Public Infrastructure with Dr. Pramod Varma Guest: Akhil Jayaprakash and Arun Vinayak Host: Rathish Balakrishnan Producer: Meenakshi Iyer Produced by: Pickle Jar Media Chapters 00:00 - Precap 01:30 - Welcome 01:43 - Topic and Guest Intro 03:28 - Akhil & Arun's journey into the EV ecosystem 08:21 - The key players in EV 11:41 - What a vertically integrated stack looks like 12:32 - The EV Market 15:51 - Summarising insights on the EV market & players 17:07- Approaching the new world with an old world mental model 26:36 - Challenges in the charging EVs 30:22 - Access to EV for different vehicles 35:45 - Understanding the user experience of the EV charging infrastructure 41:13 - Moving past the obvious solutions 48:39 - Summary and further understanding of how to solve for charging anxiety 59:10 - Achieving unification through a DPI approach 01:06:58 - Where can unification unlock value 01:10:05 - Imagining the end game 01:16:31 - Wishlist for scaling EV infrastructure in India 01:20:29 - Summary & Thanks #ElectricVehicles #EVMarketIndia #EVCharging #DigitalInfrastructure #CustomerExperience #RapidCharging #SoftwareInteroperability #ChargingInfrastructure #ConsumerConcerns #GridChallenges #RealEstateChallenges #UnifiedEVInterface #UEI #GovernmentSupport #EVStandardization #EVAdoption #ProprietaryInnovation #OpenNetwork #ExponentEnergy #PulseEnergy #Entrepreneurs #SustainableMobility #GreenTechnology #EVRevolution #CleanEnergy #FutureOfTransportation

Get to know more about our latest guest featured on Decoding Impact, ⁠⁠Prachi Windlass, through this revealing rapid fire! Listen to the latest episode of Decoding Impact!: 🔴 ⁠⁠ Youtube⁠⁠⁠ 🟣 ⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast⁠⁠⁠ 🔵 ⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠ 🔗 ⁠⁠⁠Website