Smile Foundation, in association with Wilde Ganzen Foundation, hosted the Directors’ Meet 2022 under the Change the Game Academy (CtGA) initiative in New Delhi, India. Directors’ Meet is an annual or biannual meeting of national partner organizations (NPOs) representing various countries from across the globe. This time, the meeting was organized to discuss plans for scaling up the programme globally as well as at the country level to enable local grassroots organizations to sustain their endeavor and create higher impacts.

Across the globe, social entrepreneurs and grassroots initiatives are in the dire need of capacity building to achieve programme sustainability, efficiency, impact creation, among others. Such organizations and social initiatives play a big role in furthering social development, tackling socio-environmental challenges and complementing governmental efforts in bringing change at the grassroots.

As recognized by the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations, non-government organizations play critical roles in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Change the Game Academy is an initiative by Wilde Ganzen Foundation, Netherlands co-created in association with Smile Foundation, CESE from Brazil, and Kenya Community Development Foundation from Kenya. It aims to end dependency on foreign funding in the global south regions by supporting grassroots organizations through strengthening their in-country fundraising capacity.

The Directors’ Meet 2022 involved representatives from 12 National Partner Organizations (NPOs) from as many countries, and the Wilde Ganzen Foundation. The deliberation included the program’s progress at the global and country-level, besides setting its roadmap. It was a residential meeting and was hosted by Smile Foundation in Manesar, near Delhi.

The meet witnessed participation from organizations such as Advocacy and Policy Institute and Cooperation Committee for Cambodia , Association Burkinabè de Fundraising from Burkina Faso, CESE from Brazil, Development Expertise Center from Ethiopia, Foundation for Civil Society from Tanzania, Kenya Community Development Foundation,  The Institute of Monitoring and Evaluation and ASM from Sri Lanka, Uganda National NGO Forum, West Africa Civil Society Institute from Ghana, Cordaid from Nepal, and Rhiza Babuyile from South Africa.

“Our collaboration with Wilde Ganzen Foundation has enabled us to help local community-based organizations grow and achieve impactful results. We are happy to be enabler of change and help genuine grassroots organizations in India and beyond imbibe good governance, achieve scale, ensure efficiency and attain overall self-reliance,” said Mr. Santanu Mishra, Co-Founder and Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation.

Smile Foundation, based on its philosophy of Social Venture Philanthropy (SVP) and its alignment with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat, has so far empowered more than 1,000 grassroots organizations and social entrepreneurs especially in the areas of good governance and improved self-reliance.