FICCI Conference - Corporate Social Responsibility

I spent Valentine's Day doing something I truly love instead of being with someone I truly love. I was at a conference discussing sport for development in India. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) partnered with Magic Bus and the British Council to host a first of its kind in India event entitled: CSR: Changing Lives Through Sport.

So on Monday morning I found myself in a room full of 150 people representing various private companies, NGOs, government sectors and athletic organizations. The organizers were able to bring together some top influencers within Indian sport such as Tarun Puri (Managing Director - Nike India), Kapil Dev (Indian cricket legend) and Matthew Spacie (Founder - Magic Bus). However, what was great was that the conference gave some of the smaller NGOs who are doing extraordinary work under the radar, their opportunity to share what they are up to.

The person who "stole the show" was a young American named Franz Gastler. He spoke about how he has been living in a tribal village in Jharkand for the past few years running a girls soccer program. What transformed the room was his authentic description of the impact he has made on the village despite all of the challenges he has been faced with. I was happy that his story had an impact on the room as it's easy to sit in suits in Delhi and talk about "making a difference" over a free buffet lunch, however, it is the people who are in constant action who make the biggest difference.

His story reminded me of a quote I read the other day. It said, "The hands that give make a bigger difference than the hands that pray." He has devoted his life to providing a better life for the girls of this particular village and I hope that his efforts are supported. His story also reminded me of a program I created a few years back called Harlem2Guadalajara where I flew boys from Harlem, NY down to Guadalajara, Mexico: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6jmh3cbPxM. I miss the life of creating and contributing and want to get back to doing what gets me excited to wake up each day.

Anyway, I enjoyed the conference and I thank the organizers for creating a platform to discuss such an important topic. Because I love lists, here is my list of things I noticed and/or what could make future conferences more powerful:

1. It would be great to ensure a lot more corporate companies are in attendance for 2 reasons. One is because they write the checks and it would be good for them to understand what NGOs exist and what difference they have made in people's lives. The second is so it's not just another sports conference where people working in sports are selling other sports people on why sports are important.
2. There is still a gray area between CSR and Charity in India
3. Unfortunately the copious amounts of NGO scams over the years have created a negative perception towards donating money in India 
4. The future of Indian sport is in the private sector, not the government  
5. Indians don't ask questions at conferences, they just raise their hands during question time in order to tell people what they do and why they are angry about something. It's quite amusing.