Pradeep Ghosh, Founder, OASiS
Pradeep is the Founder of OASiS, a social innovations laboratory that develops new models for the social sector.
Podcast
Overview
“In a social enterprise, you need to have the head of a businessman but the heart of a social worker.”
Pradeep Ghosh, a social entrepreneur, and innovator is here to share his understanding of this sector with us on The Brand Called You podcast. Pradeep is the Founder of OASiS, a social innovations laboratory that develops new models for the social sector. Pradeep started his career as an IT Professional at the age of 20 and worked his way up for the next 15 years to become the Asia Pacific Head of the company he had worked for. This is when he started to explore the true meaning of his life and he jumped right into the social sector. He realized that there was a gap that needed to be bridged in this sector and he contributed by creating a platform that recognizes social issues in the community and creates simplified solutions. These solutions are available for everyone who is willing to drive change in society. Pradeep talks to us about a museum school he has built using museums as the place facilitating it with teachers who are teaching students from the slum areas. This initiative is helping bridge the disparity that exists in our education system. Pradeep has worked for the community for many years and he’s recognized all over the world for his work. He shares the challenges of the social sector for our viewers and shares how he has learned so much on his journey. Pradeep shares the meaning of social work and shares how millennials and gen z’s are changing this area by being more invested in the community much more than the previous generations. He remarks that social work has become a “fashion statement” in today’s world. A compassionate person at heart, Pradeep shares his views on success and failure. He advises the young social workers to be fully transparent and honest to achieve credibility. Tune in and get inspired!
Profile
During my 15 years of Corporate career spanning 12 countries, I often wondered: “While every industry has Research Labs that bring out new products and processes, the Social sector has none”. To address this gap, I stepped out of the corporate world and started ‘OASiS – A Social Innovations Lab’ in India, in 2003. Innovating new approaches and models for development, my models have solved long-standing problems and issues like Social Security for rural, urban and differently-abled, Education – Urban and Rural, Community livelihoods, Volunteering, etc. Elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2004, and has won many international innovation awards, my models are being replicated by Government, NGOs, Universities, and schools. Our model called ‘The Museum School’ won UNESCO’s Education Innovation Award for 2016.
Budding social entrepreneurs mentored by our Lab have received national acclaim. I am now replicating the Social Innovation Lab internationally, through Universities, and grassroots too. While most Startup Incubators provide support to promising ideas, there is no Incubator that helps an individual develop an idea itself. OASiS with its in-house designed approaches to social innovation fills this gap by supporting its Mentees from ‘Ideation to Institution’. Equipped with three decades of Corporate and Social sector experience, OASiS plans to start a chain of Social Enterprise Incubators soon, in Tier-2 cities of India. At this age, I still nurture the heart of a child and get excited with every new idea. I believe in and follow George Bernard Shaw’s quote: You see things, and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say ‘Why not?’.
