THE NEW-AGE GIVERS

Modern day philanthropists comprise not just heirs of legacy businesses but also founders of start-ups. The causes they support are out-of-the-box too.

- AJITA SHASHIDHAR

WHEN MARICO FOUNDER Harsh Mariwala decided to step down from day-to-day operations in 2014, he was already running Marico Innovation Foundation and Ascent to support entrepreneurship. His next goal was involvement in basic education and healthcare. Around this time, his daughter, Raj Mariwala, was also looking to enter philanthropy. She, however, was not interested in healthcare or education but mental health, having dealt with the stigma of learning disability during her student life. “I struggled through school not knowing I had learning disability,” says Raj Mariwala, director, Mariwala Health Initiative. Though the idea of supporting mental health causes didn’t excite her father much, he was not opposed to it either. “He acknowledged mental health was hardly getting funding and Indians were increasingly facing mental health issues,” she says.

But the biggest challenge for those who work in this space is to get people to accept that they are facing a mental health issue. That is why she decided to be hands-on instead of merely signing cheques for NGOs. Not only did she talk to people from various sections of the society (sex workers, farmers, LGBTQ community members, gender violence victims) and helped them accept their mental health concerns, she also decided to spend time with companies and government bodies to convince them to implement policies around mental well-being. She is also helping NGOs in the space raise funds and providing them technical know-how and marketing support. Mariwala Health Initiative has partnered with 33 NGOs for 37 projects in 20 states over past seven years.