The Rebuild India Fund’s sixth partner workshop, held in Delhi from 19th to 21st June brought together 31 grassroots organizations from 19 states and 1 union territory. This is a significant milestone, as Rebuild’s journey that began with 33 organizations has now grown into a movement of 175 community-led NGOs serving vulnerable communities across the country.
Over the past two years, Rebuild has organized six workshops in cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Guwahati with over 180 NGO leaders from across India. These workshops introduce grassroots organizations to Rebuild, showing them how to leverage available tools and resources while conducting capacity-building sessions. These workshops also serve as a tool to foster community building, learning, and connections among our partners.
Each workshop provides new insights, which we use to make upcoming workshops more relatable and useful while also understanding the needs and engagement style of individual leaders and organizations Here are some of the insights that have informed our planning process.
The Tightrope Walk: Curation and Inclusivity
Every workshop begins with a careful curation process. We start by understanding our diverse group of participants, considering their varied backgrounds, languages, genders, and learning styles. Tailoring content and structures to meet everyone’s unique needs is essential for equal representation and participation. This takes 2 to 2.5 months of effort per workshop, including both pre-workshop planning and post-workshop follow-up.
Each workshop comprises 10-12 sessions, all designed with inclusivity in mind. We incorporate diverse perspectives and create flexible, accessible materials. This careful balance allows everyone to derive value from the experience.
Striking a Chord: The Power of Peers and Experts
We have found that the most impactful workshops involve a thoughtful mix of facilitators. Striking a balance between relatable peers and seasoned experts has proven effective. At our 6th Partner Workshop, for example, we invited peers from Rebuild’s portfolio to share their experiences on topics like flexible funding and wellbeing. This approach provided firsthand insights and built trust, while also fostering a strong sense of community within Rebuild.
We complemented these peer-led sessions with insights from sector experts like Anshu Gupta from Goonj and Sonal Kapoor from Protsahan India Foundation. Their expertise in capacity building for grassroots organizations encouraged the NGO leaders to critically evaluate their vision and organizational futures. This blend of familiar faces and experts creates a space where NGO leaders feel supported to learn, grow, and build solidarity with each other- one where they can learn from each other’s failures and wins.
Engagement Looks Different for Different Demographics
After curating a set of sessions, the next important step is understanding engagement. Engagement can manifest differently based on demographics and learning styles. While some partners thrive in question-and-answer sessions, others may find more value in note taking and applying insights within their own contexts.
Recognizing these nuances is essential for measuring the true impact of our workshops. Rather than focusing solely on participation levels, we aim to understand how each leader is deriving value and applying learnings to strengthen their organizations. We also emphasize building on cultural contexts and avoiding judgmental views. Pre-planning and providing post-workshop materials make the experience more accessible and memorable.
Moving the Conversation Forward
As Rebuild India Fund’s journey progresses, we are moving beyond creating open spaces for connection. We are now actively curating conversations on critical topics that are often overlooked in the sector such as wellbeing of grassroots leaders, defining scale for grassroots, flexible and trust-based giving. While open dialogue remains important, we also recognize the need to delve into difficult subjects that are essential for growth.
The increased participation we have seen is a testament to this. It’s led to a stronger sense of community within the cohorts, with organizations even coming together to find solutions – exactly what we hoped for. Going forward, we will dedicate time for community building, through either structured networking opportunities or dedicated sessions. This will help NGO leaders connect with the larger vision of Rebuild and the collective impact we are all working towards.
The Road Ahead: Building a Stronger India
The sixth Partner Workshop was a powerful testament of the immense knowledge and resilience that reside within India’s grassroots organizations. As we look ahead, our focus remains to design inclusive and impactful journeys that help these NGO leaders to tackle the challenges faced by the most vulnerable communities. Through thoughtful curation, diverse facilitation, and a focus on flexible engagement, we will continue to cultivate safe spaces for honest dialogue, cross-learning, and collective action. By investing in the institutional capacity of our partners, we believe that together, we can rebuild India with dignity and equity for all.
