How does wealth relate to satisfaction and joy? Can livelihood be an expression of higher purpose? Beyond matching demand and supply, how might we design economics for an equilibrium of head, heart and hands? 

Join us for a dialogue with Amit Bhatia and Vidya Shah, moderated by Birju Pandya. 

Vidya is CEO of EdelGive Foundation, one of the most respected CSR arms in the country and director and former CFO of a large Indian financial services company Edelweiss as well as recipient of several awards. Much before CSR was a statutory requirement, Vidya chose to move away from an executive role at Edelweiss to birth EdelGive. Was it disillusion with material wealth - “yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai?”, she cites Sahir or a search for greater meaning, one wonders. Far from just donating money, Vidya’s unique contribution being personal involvement in the various causes EdelGive supports and a shift to collaborative philanthropy. And yet, being a pre-eminent philanthropist does not stop her from asking the funding community (EdelGive included) “Who are we to transform lives?”. She also believes in embracing the space of not knowing, and honoring multiplicity of voices and recognizing our interdependence. Vidya is also a connoisseur of art and a student of music. 

Read more about Five Questions We Asked Vidya

Amit has held various leadership roles in the corporate including Founder of Mckinsey Knowledge Centre and CEO of WNS Knowledge Services. Deeply inspired by Swami Vivekananda, at a early age, he turned to social impact work as an expression of his higher purpose. “We are not doing it for them, we are doing it for us” he quotes Aristotle. Since then, through initiatives like GSGII and IIC, Amit has facilitated billions of dollars globally in impact investments. Through Aspire Circle, has facilitated self-reflection and collaboration among 150+ eminent social leaders in India. His work at Aspire has benefitted over 65,000 young students education and training. He says the work may be nothing compared to scale of our challenges, but the handshake, the hug and the hope in the eyes of people he works for, makes the impact come alive for him. 

Birju has been experimenting with Integrated Capital in family offices. Key areas of Birju's interest include inner transformation (eg meditation), psycho-spiritual work (eg trauma work), and resilience (eg collapse awareness).  He also engages with the topics of meat reduction, solar energy, real estate and regenerative agriculture. From an Integrated Capital lens, Birju experiments with multiple forms of capital, gift cultures, and emergence-based design. Underneath it all is an intention to invite deeper compassion and wisdom into life. Prior to this direction, Birju was a consultant with McKinsey & Company.  He has a Bachelor's from Arizona State and an MBA from Columbia Business School. 

Read More about 5 questions we asked Birju.