High Impact Philanthropy: Adhirath Sethi Of Agastya International Foundation On How To Leave A Lasting Legacy With A Successful & Effective Nonprofit Organization
An Interview with Karen Mangia
Harnessing trust — the other driving force of Agastya has been trust. Whether we look at the trust between the co-founders or the trust that the same co-founders placed in the very first members of the Agastya staff, a common thread has always been that they have entrusted their fellow colleagues to deliver. Compared to the corporate world, where cultures can often be cut-throat, Agastya built a team that found true joy in pulling together towards a common goal.
For someone who wants to set aside money to establish a Philanthropic Foundation or Fund, what does it take to make sure your resources are being impactful and truly effective? In this interview series, called “How To Create Philanthropy That Leaves a Lasting Legacy” we are visiting with founders and leaders of Philanthropic Foundations, Charitable Organizations, and Non-Profit Organizations, to talk about the steps they took to create sustainable success.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Adhirath Sethi.
Adhirath Sethi is a Trustee of the Agastya International Foundation. He was formerly a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group. Today Adhirath is a Director of Poly Fluoro Ltd, his family’s business in India. He is the author of The Moving of Mountains: The Remarkable Story of the Agastya International Foundation. The Agastya International Foundation is an education trust and non-profit organization whose mission is to spark curiosity, nurture creativity and build confidence among economically disadvantaged children and teachers in India.
Thank you for making time to visit with us about a ‘top of mind’ topic. Our readers would like to get to know you a bit better. Can you please tell us about one or two life experiences that most shaped who you are today?
One of the most important experiences of my life was the time I spent with my grandfather. He was not only a very successful captain of industry during his time but also went on to be one of the co-founders of the Agastya Foundation. Being able to spend time with him and observe the manner in which he worked, managed his people, and managed his time has shaped much of my own style of working today.
Another key experience was going to boarding school in England. Coming from a somewhat sheltered life in India, I was suddenly thrust into a totally different world at the age of seventeen. Learning to quickly adapt and then thrive in that environment changed my approach to new situations. It taught me that even in the face of sudden changes, being fluid and accommodating is often the most resilient approach.
You are a successful leader. Which character traits do you think were most instrumental to Agastya’s success? We would love to hear a few stories or examples.
Agastya understood from the very beginning that as a non-profit they would not always be able to hire specifically for the role that they needed people for. Instead, they began hiring the person rather than the role and trusting that the person they hired would find his or her place within the organization and drive meaningful change where necessary.
Our founder, Ramji Raghavan, once interacted with an army general who illustrated that in the thick of war, soldiers are ultimately not fighting for their nation or even their loved ones. With death imminent, the soldier entrusts their faith in their immediate commanding officer and will risk everything based on their officer’s direction. This insight was crucial in how Agastya developed its own frontline workers or instructors. Something that was inculcated right in the beginning was to develop a strong relationship between the frontline workers and their immediate managers. Agastya knew that while the leadership could provide direction, the ultimate quality of the organization would be defined by how the frontline instructors interacted with children and guided them through their journey of curiosity and learning. Developing a fierce loyalty between instructors and their immediate managers was crucial to ensure that both on-ground ownership and attitude were aligned with what Agastya was trying to achieve on a national scale.
What’s the most interesting discovery you’ve made since you started writing about Agastya’s story?
One of the most interesting things about Agastya’s story was that they very early on developed a vision for the sort of organization they wanted to be and the kind of change that they intended to influence in the realm of Indian education. While the actual methods and the models that Agastya employed were constantly evolving and often even pivoting wildly, this core vision was held in place.
So, while the original idea was to build a world class school, what ultimately emerged was the world’s largest hands-on science experiential learning program. Nonetheless, Agastya’s final form was still deeply rooted in its original plan to spark curiosity, nurture creativity and innovation, and build a culture of caring and confidence.
I think this is very important for all organizations that start out with an idea of what they want to do but then get very wedded into the way they choose to execute their vision. Agastya showed that by maintaining a sort of fluidity you can hold the original vision pure and intact while still effecting meaningful and impactful change.
Can you please tell our readers more about how Agastya intends to make a significant social impact?
Today, Agastya is the world’s largest hands-on science experiential learning programme. We reach close to 5,000,000 children a year and have over the past 25 years reached about 25,000,000 children across India. Over the next decade, Agastya has outlined its vision 2.0 that seeks to reach 100 million children with its various science and arts learning programmes. It is an ambitious target but one that Agastya believes will plant the seeds for a whole generation of fierce free thinkers and young leaders.
What makes you feel passionate about this cause more than any other?
Agastya’s vision was to give children the tools that they need to redefine their own circumstances and the confidence to become the best versions of themselves. In a country like India where poverty nutrition and healthcare no doubt take centre stage, Agastya believed that once basic needs were met, children would need the right tools in order to survive and thrive as global citizens. Creativity, curiosity, and innovation will form the foundations of thinking for a generation of Indian students who will be looking to stand out on the world stage. So, while other causes and organisations attend to ‘here and now’ issues, Agastya is doing something truly unique in preparing Indian students for a future that is inevitably approaching.
Without naming names, could you share a story about an individual who benefitted from your initiatives?
One of the most heartwarming anecdotes is that of a young girl whose father had lost his job and wanted to sell the family cow in order to raise some money. The girl, who was an Agastya Young Instructor Leader, advised her father to withhold selling the cow. She instead convinced her mother to take on a few extra shifts to make up for the shortfall in their income. In due course the cow gave birth to 3 calves and the milk provided by the cows was able to bolster the family income to the point where the girl was able to attend a private engineering college. Agastya’s magic isn’t so much in that it teaches science to children — which it does do remarkably. But beyond this, Agastya’s methods allow children to question the information available to them and draw insights. In applying a lens of curiosity and problem solving to their own circumstances, Agastya children have shown in multiple such cases that they were able to find solutions that might have otherwise eluded them.
We all want to help and to live a life of purpose. What are actions anyone could take to help address the root cause of the problem you’re trying to solve?
For those who want to help Agastya’s cause, what we ask is that they spread Agastya’s message as loudly and as far as they possibly can. Although Agastya reaches an unimaginable 5,000,000 children every year, its story remains relatively unknown outside of India. With the book, this is something that we hope we can change. It has been a truly remarkable journey, and we hope that more people become aware of what Agastya is doing and come forward to support us.
Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Create A Successful & Effective Nonprofit That Leaves A Lasting Legacy?”
In the book, we have a section of 19 key learnings. Some of my favorites include:
- Defining a vision — most successful people say that they always had a clear vision for the kind of success that they were aiming for. Having this kind of a vision is essential in maintaining the course that we set for ourselves even in the face of changes that might arise of course. Agastya as a foundation had decided very early on that it wanted to improve education by sparking curiosity and nurturing creativity and innovation. Although the actual paths that it took to reach this point were not defined from the beginning, having the vision allowed us to keep forging ahead so long as that vision was held in place.
- Welcoming uncertainty — An important part of being either a social entrepreneur or a business entrepreneur is to accept that uncertainty is a large part of the journey you will undertake. As Mike Tyson once said: “Everyone has a plan until I punch them”. This is particularly true in business in that being able to take the body blows or unexpected setbacks and still maintain your composure is often the difference between victory and defeat.
- Building a culture of curiosity — in the book, I highlight that Agastya’s great strength was that while it was certainly trying to sell the idea of curiosity and creativity, it was at the same time imbibing these virtues and using them as a very powerful tool in its own growth as an organization. Building a culture of curiosity has allowed Agastya to continue to innovate and grow even as it has scaled up to reach some 5,000,000 children a year. The tendency of Agastya staff to tinker with, innovate, and continually improve all aspects of the work that they do has been the driving force in turning Agastya into the organization it is today.
- Harnessing trust — the other driving force of Agastya has been trust. Whether we look at the trust between the co-founders or the trust that the same co-founders placed in the very first members of the Agastya staff, a common thread has always been that they have entrusted their fellow colleagues to deliver. Compared to the corporate world, where cultures can often be cut-throat, Agastya built a team that found true joy in pulling together towards a common goal.
- Embracing diversity — being a non-profit organization Agastya was always on the back foot when it came to employing skilled managers and instructors. Being forced to focus purely on merit allowed diversity to naturally thrive at Agastya, as people were hired for their can-do spirit, rather than for the degrees and positions that they may have earlier held.
Ultimately, Agastya succeeds because it doesn’t just sell creativity and innovation as taglines. It fuses them into its own ethos and ensures that they are lived and breathed by everyone who is a part of Agastya.
How has the pandemic changed Agastya’s definition of success?
As a hands-on learning platform that relies on face-to-face interactions, Agastya should have been wiped out by the pandemic. While the foundation no-doubt suffered a setback due to the pandemic, there was also the emergence of new ideas and methods to keep teaching alive even with the limitations imposed by the lockdowns. Eventually, many of the initiatives spearheaded during the pandemic turned into mainstay programs. These included the Actilearn book — an origami-based science learning book with over 50 at-home experiments — and the launch of Agastya’s WeLearn App. The pandemic also pushed Agastya to look more innovatively at the digital space, and this helped define the structure of Agastya’s ambitious Agastya 2.0 plan to reach 100 million children by 2030.
The pandemic showed us that in the present world, adaptability is perhaps the most valuable driver of success. Agastya had already built a culture of adaptability since its inception. The pandemic was merely a backdrop against which this organizational trait was once again showcased with resounding success.
How do you get inspired after an inevitable setback?
It is important to understand the levers that we can control and those that we cannot. After a setback, it is normal to lament the state we’re in and have regrets about decisions that led us there. Rather, it would be more effective to understand those factors that remain in our control and push ourselves to make changes that would productively try and remedy the problem.
With the restrictions imposed by the lockdown, Agastya instructors had been advised to stay home and wait for the storm to pass. However, within only a few days, instructors began feeling restless and asking whether there were any other ways to reach the children they needed to teach. Starting with classes on WhatsApp, instructors gradually developed innovative remote learning methods (such as those mentioned above) that may have otherwise gone unexplored had it not been for the pandemic. By using what levers were available, Agastya managed to keep busy even during the lockdown and eventually emerged as a far more robust organization. To borrow a term from Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Agastya had truly shown that it was ‘anti-fragile’.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world who you would like to talk to, to share the idea behind your non-profit? He, she, or they might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
We are always looking for donors and thought leaders to get involved with Agastya and to bring their perspective — and indeed their donations — into supporting what it is that we do. Rather than single anyone out, I’d probably hope that this reaches readers who see the purity of Agastya’s vision. Readers whose beliefs align with those of the foundation. At the very core, if you believe that the world would be better off if more young minds were infused with the spirit of inquiry, then it would be worth reaching out to Agastya to find out how we do it.
You’re doing important work. How can our readers follow your progress online?
Agastya is very prominent online. Followers can find us at www.agastya.org, on Instagram @agastyaorg and even access our educational videos on YouTube.
Thank you for a meaningful conversation. We wish you continued success with your mission.
About The Interviewer: Karen Mangia is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world, sharing her thought leadership with over 10,000 organizations during the course of her career. As Vice President of Customer and Market Insights at Salesforce, she helps individuals and organizations define, design and deliver the future. Discover her proven strategies to access your own success in her fourth book Success from Anywhere and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
High Impact Philanthropy: Adhirath Sethi Of Agastya International Foundation On How To Leave A… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.