School of Management and Labour Studies

International Conference on Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem – Organized by the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, TISS

Category: News

The Centre for Social Entrepreneurship has organized an international conference on the theme Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem on 6-7 Feb 2025. The conference started with the welcome address delivered by Dr. Archana Singh, Chairperson, Centre for Social Entrepreneurship (CSE), School of Management and Labour Studies (SMLS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) followed by opening remarks of Prof Bino Paul, Senior Professor and Chairperson of Labour Market Research Facility (LMRF) of the SMLS and an overview of CSE and conference context setting delivered by Prof. Samapti Guha, Professor, CSE.

In the second session, Dr. Armida Fernandez, Founder Trustee, Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action (SNEHA), and Ashoka Fellow delivered Prof. Sharit Bhowmik Memorial Lecture on ‘Innovations for Social Change’.

The conference comprised of three research paper presentation sessions in which 16 research papers were selected for the presentations. These papers were submitted by scholars from all across India and some international participants and some of them presented over two days in the conference. The themes of the sessions are ‘Policy, Culture and Support system for Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem’, moderated by Dr. Edakkandi Meethal Reji, Assistant Professor, CSE, SMLS; ‘Finance and Market Support for Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem’, moderated by Prof. Samapti Guha, Professor, CSE, SMLS and ‘Social Entrepreneurial Eco-System - Human Capital and Sustainability’ moderated by Dr. Archana Singh, Assistant Professor and Chairperson, CSE, SMLS, TISS.

Two separate panel discussions also took place at the conference on the two days. The first-panel was on the Role of Institutions in the Ecosystem occurred on 6th Feb 2025. The panel comprised of the following panelists and moderated by Prof. Satyajit Majumdar, Director, TISS Incube Foundation and Ex-Dean, SMLS, TISS:

Dr. Mahuya Hom Choudhury, Senior Scientist, Nodal Officer, Patent and Trademark Attorney, -Patent Information Centre, West Bengal State Council of Science & Technology.

Ms. Rukmani Riar, IAS, Municipal Commissioner, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Ms. Jyotsna Sitling, Member of Advisory Committee, Social Stock Exchange, SEBI.

Mr. Angshuman Bhattacharya is the AVP of AI Solutions at Adani AI Labs and the founder of SIBIA Analytics, an AIML start-up.

The second day of the conference started with the Expert Session on 'Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Social Development' by Professor Alexander Ebner, Professor of Political Economy and Economic Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. Prof Ebner’s work suggested the advancement of Schumpeterian thoughts of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem.

The second panel discussion was based on the theme “Meet People Aspiring to Make a Difference,” on 7th Feb 2025. The panel was comprised of the TISS alumni running their social enterprises. The session was moderated by Dr. Surendra Kansara, Assistant Professor, CSE, SMLS and the Conference Coordinator. The panelists included:

Mr. Prashik Bhalerao, Founder of PSR Sustainability

Ms. Utkarsha Rajapandhere, Founder, PSR Sustainability.

Mr. Krishna Biruly and Mr. Sourav, Homari.

Mr. Rahul Juware, 3R Solutions.

Mr. Suraj Gautam, BMCWS.

The Students of the Master of Arts in Social Entrepreneurship, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, shared their “Immersion experiences and Pilot Presentations” under the conference event “Social Enterprises in Making.” The session was moderated by Mr. Sujay Dixit, Vice President, TISS Incube Foundation, TISS.

The conference proved to be a successful event for debating and disseminating knowledge about the Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem and networking by experts, delegates, sponsors, and Ph.D. Scholars and students of Master programs of TISS- Mumbai and other campuses.