Deshpande Fundation

As a Deshpande Fellowship Program Fellow below I woulde like to give Brif information about



DESHPANDE FOUNDATION


The Deshpande Foundation (DF) is the family foundation of Gururaj (”Desh”) Deshpande and Jaishree Deshpande Based in Stoneham, MA, it is a philanthropy dedicated to funding non-profits (NGO) in Massachusetts and in the Hubli-Dharwad region of Karnataka state, India. It was started in 1996.
Gururaj (”Desh”) and Jaishree Deshpande are the trustees of the Deshpande Foundation
The Deshpande Foundation looks for organizations which:
Offer innovative solutions to society’s largest and most pressing issues, recognizing problems which impactlarge populations, or for which current solutions are unsatisfactory.
Provide ideas that are easily and quickly scaled, and are operationally and financially sustainable. Additionally, willingness to
replicate with outside partners is noteworthy.l Have strong leadership and vision.
Funding is allocated into four main sectors: Agriculture/Environment, Microcredit/Livelihood, Education and Health.
Current funding efforts are for the MIT Deshpande Center, organizations working within the 5 districts of the “Sandbox”, and major venture philanthropy efforts in both Massachusetts and India.

“DF Sandbox”
The Sandbox is a geographically defined area in India. It is located in the northwest corner of the state of Karnataka, and it centers around the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad. A map is available here. The area has diverse economies throughout its five districts, with both urban and agricultural settings.
Desh and Jaishree Deshpande are both originally from the Hubli-Dharwad area. As a result, the Foundation centers its efforts on their hometown as a lab for social innovation.

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