In India — home to about one-third of the world’s poor — seeing the development problems can be all too easy. Seeing what lies beneath, though, takes a bit more time.
“[A]s an outsider, you don’t realize at first what wealth of value there is behind those problems — and if you can tap into that, how much amazing change you can create,” said Tej Dhami, senior director at UnLtd India, an incubator that helps new social entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground.
Dhami, who joined the organization three years ago, isn’t exaggerating: Many of the entrepreneurs she works with have direct experience of the issues they want to address, including malnutrition, poor health care and unreliable energy supply.