Leadership Circle | Sustainability for Scale and Impact

Advancing Conversations on Sustainable, Scalable CSR

Centum Foundation hosted a Chatham House–style Leadership Circle, convening approximately 25 senior leaders across corporate social responsibility, sustainability, human resources, education, and philanthropy. Designed as an off-the-record, dialogue-driven forum, the session created space for candid exchange on the structural shifts required to move CSR from short-term projects to long-term systems of change.

The convening focused on a central question guiding the evening:

How can CSR evolve from fragmented interventions to models that scale sustainably and deliver lasting impact?

The evening opened with an address by Sunita Mohanty, President, upGrad, who framed the discussion around the need to reimagine CSR beyond compliance-driven approaches. The address emphasised the importance of long-term thinking, community ownership, and institutional commitment in building social initiatives that are resilient and scalable.

Fireside Chat

Sustainability for Scale and Impact

A fireside conversation between Kanika Pal, South Asia Sustainability Director, Unilever, and Dhruv Mittal, Associate Director, Centum Foundation, explored what it truly means for sustainability efforts to endure.

The discussion examined:

• The limitations of visibility-driven and short funding cycles

• The gap between sustainability as a concept and sustainability as practice

• The role of governance, leadership culture, and strategic integration in sustaining impact

• Community ownership as a non-negotiable element of scalable change

• The conversation positioned sustainability as a function of systems, not standalone programs.

Panel Discussion

Bringing Scale and Depth to CSR Execution

A panel discussion featuring Pooja Nanda, Head – Women Economic Empowerment, Mahindra Group, and Garima Dutt, President – CSR, YES Bank & CEO, YES Foundation, moderated by Shirin Rai Gupta, Director – Marketing, upGrad, focused on the realities of CSR execution at scale.

Key themes explored included:

• Shifting skilling programs from training-led to employment-linked models

• Building trust and credibility in hard-to-reach geographies

• Embedding gender equity as a cross-cutting lens rather than a standalone vertical

• The role of delivery partners in co-owning outcomes with funders

• Where cross-sector collaborations succeed—and where they face friction

Open House Discussion

Unfiltered Insights from the Room

The session concluded with an open-house discussion involving all participants, facilitated in a moderated, Chatham House format. This exchange surfaced shared challenges and emerging perspectives across sectors.

Insights included:

• The disconnect between annual CSR planning cycles and multi-year social change

• The need for measurement frameworks that reflect lived realities, not just outputs

• A shift from transactional partnerships toward shared ownership of development goals

• The critical role of leadership commitment in sustaining long-term impact

Networking & Stakeholder Conversations

The post-session interaction enabled focused conversations between Centum Foundation team members and senior representatives from organisations including TCS, Vodafone Idea, bp India, SMFG India Credit, Servier India, Everest Industries, among others.

These discussions strengthened engagement, deepened mutual understanding, and surfaced opportunities for future collaboration aligned with shared impact priorities.

Closing Note

The Leadership Circle reinforced the importance of intentional convening spaces where senior leaders can engage in honest, cross-sector dialogue. By centring conversations on sustainability, ownership, and systems-level thinking, the session contributed to a deeper collective understanding of how CSR can evolve to create enduring social impact.