Nayaneethi Policy Collective was founded as a result of the dream of a few young professionals to use their skills and expertise to drive impact in the social sector. 

 

We met each other during the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship, 2021-23. There were 14 fellows placed in 14 districts of Kerala. During the course of the fellowship, we had the opportunity to work on various novel and innovative projects in the districts we were assigned. But we observed a particular camaraderie and pulling together of the best of each other’s capabilities in the instances we worked together as a team. This is what inspired us to ponder the possibility of continuing the work together, even after the end of the fellowship. After consulting with our professors at the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, and mentors, 6 of us decided to establish a Think-do tank. After countless deliberations, we decided to converge efforts in 3 areas - livelihoods, education and skills development. Soon, we decided to call ourselves Nayaneethi Policy Collective. ‘Nayaneethi’ - represents our commitment to bringing justice, in terms of better living standards for all, through policy and development sector interventions. The idea of collective represents our style of working, where we try to bring the best between our team, our clients and our partners.

We registered as an organisation in November 2024 and started to work out of Kochi. The transition was easy which was helped by the friendship we already shared and the familiarity we had with the social sector in Kerala. However, challenges were plenty as well. 

 

But working with clients, solving bottlenecks they encountered, delivering their expectations, and most importantly thinking, building solutions and writing about issues in the social sector is the fuel we run on. We are committed to growing together with our clients, partners and everyone else who engages with us. Hence, relationships and mutual growth are at the centre of what we do. We have had the opportunity to spread to some other states in India and we hope to expand our footprint further.