The following is the second in a series of posts in which Beyond Profit will feature strong and successful women in social enterprise. Joanna Harries, an Acumen Fund Fellow at Dial 1298 for Ambulance, based in Mumbai, reports.
A Conversation with Pooja Warier
Co-Founder, Unltd India
A mantra to live by: If no one else will take the initiative, then do it yourself.
Pooja Warier, the co-founder of Unltd India, has this to say for women entrepreneurs, “If being an entrepreneur is tough, then being a woman entrepreneur is tougher, and being a young woman entrepreneur is tougher still.”
But this hasn’t stopped her. Pooja has never opted for the easy path in life. In fact, her dream job when she was a girl growing up in Kerala was to become an astronaut. When she reached adulthood and realized math and science were not her strengths, she became interested in psychology, which eventually led her to become a social entrepreneur. Pooja describes this career change as an unconscious decision; one day she looked up and realized the work she was doing constituted the work of a social entrepreneur.
The process of transforming into a social entrepreneur started when Pooja was working with an organization in Mumbai focused on educating street children. After six months, Pooja noticed a major difference in the way she viewed her work as compared to the way the founders of the organization felt. The organization’s work was their life’s passion, whereas for Pooja, it was just a job. Through them, however, she understood the power to create social impact by living and breathing what you do each day.
She quit the next day.
Pooja cites this experience as a key juncture on her path to becoming a social entrepreneur. It turns out that determining what you don’t want to do, is as important as discovering what you do want to do.
Unltd India* provides seed funding, along with start-up services, to individuals with an idea or early stage social venture.
The organization is unique in the social investing space in that it focuses on investment in individuals with no prior track record–essentially, Unltd takes risk where other investors would not.
Pooja was first exposed to Unltd’s investing strategy while working in the Unltd UK office, where she met her founding partner, Richard. The potential for the Unltd model to work in India was clear. Pooja carried that passion forward and gained internal support to shadow three entrepreneurs in India in 2006 to understand their specific start-up requirements. Encouraged by her findings, Pooja approached large Foundations and NGOs in India to adopt the model. Although intrigued, none of these incumbent organizations were willing to run with the idea. Feeling frustrated, Pooja recalls a conversation with Unltd UK’s CEO at the time, John Rafferty, who said, “Why don’t you just do it yourself?” And so she did.
Armed with a strong co-founder in Richard, she launched Unltd India in 2007. They have provided monetary and management support to 44 investees in India and are adding more. Now, Pooja says, her brain will not turn off. She constantly sees possibilities for new social ventures. She and Richard are the force behind, Journeys’ for Change, and the recent launch of the HUB in Mumbai, a creative workspace that brings together and encourages collaboration among those working on the most pressing social issues.
When asked if she views herself as a leader, Pooja answers yes, but she defines it as part of being a role model to her investees and staff. Her view – “If you are asking others to take initiative, you need to exemplify it yourself.”
*UnLtd India is based on the Unltd UK model. See http://www.unltd.org.uk/ for more information.
