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Seeding change, cultivating impact: funding for grassroots visionaries

The Problem

After years of experience in the non-profit sector, we observed that the majority of funding goes to established organizations run by the well-connected. We noticed how grassroots leaders coming from marginalized communities often have ingenious visions and impressive potential, but struggle to scale their initiatives because their energy is focused on day to day survival.

Our Role

We identify high-impact changemakers coming from and working for marginalized communities, who lack only financial stability to scale their vision.

Our Model

We support each changemaker for five years with a salary, a physical launchpad for their work, and opportunities for their professional development and capacity building.

We Provide

Personal Growfund

Five year salary with no strings attached

Long-term launchpad

Funding the physical infrastructure of long-term vision

Network Expansion

Mentorship and capacity building for long-term fundability

Currently Supporting

Tousif | Tribal Girls' Education

Where he comes from: Tousif comes from Khandwa District, Madhya Pradesh, one of India’s most rural and economically disadvantaged regions. In his youth, Tousif woke up each morning at 4am to sell vegetables to support his family before school. As a young adult, he volunteered at a non-profit, where it became clear he had an unusual talent for program design and implementation. Tousif then decided to dedicate himself full-time to work with tribal communities.

Where he is: For 10 years, Tausif has led a non-profit, spearheading education and livelihoods projects with the Korku Tribe. Tausif is currently focused on education, as he believes it can empower Korku youth, especially girls, to find permanent solutions to the issues they face. Due to his rural location, Tousif struggles to sustain himself and his organization.

Where he's going: Tousif’s long-term vision is to foster an environment in his district where tribal youth are able to live with dignity in their ancestral homelands. This includes starting a one-of-a-kind school where children from the Korku tribe receive all the support required to pursue quality primary and secondary education within their own community.

Eleena | Violence Against Women

Where she comes from: As a woman, Eleena has always been acutely aware of gender-based violence and passionate about dismantling harmful gender norms, and creating spaces for men to discuss gender. In 2018, Eleena ventured into the challenging realm of Indian prisons to engage with inmates and gain insights into the dynamics of recidivism and gender-based crimes.

Where she is: For over 5 years, Eleena has worked on-ground in prisons across Delhi/NCR. She has successfully initiated a rehabilitation and contextual education program aiming to decrease violence and crime against women in India. Eleena is currently pioneering an innovative approach in which former inmates themselves design and lead open dialogues with boys and young men to re-define harmful gender norms.

Where she's going: Eleena aspires to open a Gender Institute run by former inmates which provides a space for men to re-conceive harmful gender norms, as well as for the public to re-evaluate preconceptions about the formerly incarcerated. She approaches her work from a place of radical empathy, and that men can and should be a part of the solution to gender-based violence and crime.

Prakash | Migrant Child Education

Where he comes from: Prakash was born in a small village in rural Madhya Pradesh, India. As a child, he was forced to move to Delhi due to devastating flooding and lack of income in his home village. In many aspects, Prakash is from a marginalized background and faced discrimination both in his village and Delhi due to this situation.

Where he is: In Delhi, Prakash got involved in a theatre troupe which was the first time he felt treated him worse because of his rural and low-income background. This inspired him to begin theatre activities in the migrant slum where he lives, which gradually morphed into experiential education programs. He currently has 10+ years working on education projects with low-income migrant communities in Delhi.

Where he's going: Prakash wants to set up an organization to empower youth in slum and migrant communities to tackle the issues they face, such as waste management, education, and issues rooted in climate change, such as excessive heat and flooding.

Founders

Lindsay Saligman

Lindsay graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Linguistics, and is currently pursuing her J.D. from the University of Chicago. Throughout five years working in the non-profit sector in Ecuador, India, Tajikistan, Ukraine and the United States, she had the privilege of interacting with inspiring grassroots change-makers whose lack of “Fundability” (financial stability capacity and infrastructure) was the only thing between them and their enormous potential for grassroots impact. This experience motivated Lindsay to be a part of the solution with Fundable.

Tabish Bilal

After a short stint in the corporate world post-masters, it became clear to Tabish that it was the development sector that moved him. In the past 5 years, he has worked on projects ranging from youth exchanges, to rural girls’ education, to criminal justice. Most recently, Tabish spent the 2022-23 year working at Northwestern University’s Buffet Institute for Global Affairs as an Atlas Corps Fellow. During his time in the U.S., Tabish observed the largely untapped potential of connections between the U.S. and Indian changemaker spaces, and through Fundable, he hopes to build those bridges.

Mohit Raj

Mohit Raj holds an M.A. in NGO Management from Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi. For the past 12 years, he has worked on designing, implementing and monitoring impactful projects in the Indian development space. Mohit’s years of innovative achievement in the development sector have earned him recognition as both an Ashoka Fellow and an Obama Foundation Scholar. Mohit became motivated to create Fundable upon witnessing the way philanthropy to India often fails to reach the most marginalized communities due to lack of connectivity.