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Who we are

Naandi, which in Sanskrit means a new beginning; is one of the largest and fastest growing social sector organisations in India working to make poverty history.

Founded in 1998 our work has 3 broad sectors: Child Rights, Safe Drinking Water and Sustainable Livelihoods. We also have a research arm that takes up action researches and other field based trials to check out innovations and their potential to positively influence policy. Our ideology revolves around building sustainable models within the social sector that deliver critical services efficiently and equitably to underserved communities.

It is our belief that in a globalised world for any social activity to be effective the involvement and contribution of all stakeholders direct or indirect plays an important role in making it responsive, responsible and sustainable for the communities in question. In this effort we work together with governments, communities, corporates and civil society institutions to channelise their collective resources – financial, technical and human – into creating new approaches to solve widespread poverty-related issues across the country. The aim is to make the most efficient and equitable use of every rupee spent in the sector.

This has been our journey since 1998 from when these public-private partnerships have helped us create sustainable, affordable solutions to long-pending development problems of the country: ensuring the rights of a child , sustainable livelihood opportunities for the underserved and safe drinking water & sanitation to rural households and so on.

Naandi with a team of 300 + employees and hundreds of community workers is presently working in nine states: Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Nagaland, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra touching the lives of more than 1million underserved people.

 
  Vision
  Mission
  Core Values
  The logo
 
Vision
Eradicate Poverty
 
Mission
 
To be a credible organisation that upholds the values of accountability and transparency in every activity it undertakes.
     
 
To facilitate public-private partnerships in all development interventions so state governments, the corporate sector and civil society can work together to change lives.
     
 
To be a leading not-for-profit that creates replicable, sustainable, outcome driven innovations that help eradicate poverty across the country.
     
 
To enhance the quality of life of the marginalised and less privileged in our society by addressing concerns of hunger, quality education, drinking water and livelihood opportunities.

 
Core Values
Naandi’s work culture has evolved out of the team’s intention to make working with and for Naandi, a pleasure. And from among the myriad values that set us apart the key ones that have helped us be what we are today are:
 
Integrity
At Naandi, integrity is sacrosanct. We believe in honesty, transparency and accountability in all matters - from fund utilisation and sharing of information, to delivery of work. For us dependability and credibility is the touchstone of how we work and what we do.
     
 
Teamwork
Naandi recognises that there is no alternative to teamwork if we have to help 256 million underprivileged people in the country win the battle against poverty. We also encourage feedback and consensus on programme design and implementation across cadres and verticals to promote out-of-box thinking. This has powered several innovations we have created. This culture has also been successful in creating a feeling of bonding and collective responsibility towards working against all odds for the realisation of our vision.
     
 
Professionalism
Our earnest endeavour is to be a responsible and responsive partner who is objective and professional in thought, word and deed by adhering to high quality of work and commitments made towards realising our vision in all spheres of work with all our stakeholders.
     
 
Passion
If you are a member of team Naandi then you will sooner than later feel intensely involved in the lives of the people we work with at the grassroots - the prevalence of poverty and inequality in our society and need to change the equation of inequity. We believe in igniting a spark (as our logo signifies) in everybody around us with the spirit of sharing and caring, the values of respecting human dignity, the need for sharing knowledge, and the passion towards giving back to society to make it a more equal world.
 
The Logo
The spark. The logo is an abstract of Naandi's visual identity. It replaced the old one in 2003 to represent Naandi's vision to Change Lives as a national aspiration.
              
 Present Logo                Past Logo

This is a stylised version of a burning candle. It symbolises the Spark which Naandi strives to ignite in people, to make a difference, to give back to society and actively work for change, all over the world.

The colour, burnt orange, indicates warmth and passion. The semi formal font is evocative of the Foundation’s credo of working with the indigenous grass root communities. A combination of corporate professionalism and grounded principles – that’s what the new logo with its stylised graphic and Indianised font represents.