This Government advisors duo is revolutionizing Public Policy Consulting in India.

Naman Shrivastava (Co-founder & CEO) and Shatakshi Sharma ( Cofounder &­ Senior Partner) had been working as strategic advisors to Government of India in order to make a dent in the universe when Shatakshi moved to Hyderabad in April 2018 to start her business school journey at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Less did they know that ISB, Hyderabad will help them to sow seeds of their upcoming venture- Global Governance Initiative. The academic rigor and peaceful ISB campus allowed Shatakshi to sit back and reflect what else she wants from her professional life in addition to mere grabbing a covetous job on campus.

Naman and Shatakshi brainstormed on multiple calls to realize that they both were fortunate to land the opportunity with the Indian Government. However, many people are not skilled enough or have awareness about such roles with the Government. To further expand the thought, in UPSC 2017, for approximately 800 seats around 12 Lakh candidates registered for the exam.

This clearly indicates that the youth of India is motivated to contribute to the nation’s growth. However, due to lack of skills and opportunities (like limited seats in state service exams) candidates are unable to contribute productively.  Coming from a land, where 0.7 billion people are below the age of 25. Through the Global Governance Initiative, we aim to create a youth revolution in Public Policy Participation.

Thus, we know that India is a land which is soon going to become 5th largest economy of the world- has ~700 million youth- thus there is ample supply.  Moreover, our experience with the Government bureaucrats and Ministers showed us that there is a new and huge demand for such young talented people with popular examples being of state’s Chief Minister’s programs- thus there is demand.

Realizing this, Naman materialized further the idea in the form of organization and both bootstrapped initial funding to cofound – Global Governance Initiative in July 2018. The inaugural Masterclass was held in New Delhi with support of Bharati Institute of Public Policy- Policy School of ISB as Shatakshi continued to also manage her academics.

From there on, there was no looking back- the pilot helped us understand the power of both idea and impeccable execution. To further test and expand the idea, the founders moved boldly to now host Masterclass in Boston, the USA at Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy which proved merit in the idea as well as capability of the founders to deliver such international Masterclass.

Thus, that’s how Global Governance Initiative (GGI) came into existence and we define its role in society as – an impact up-skilling venture that engages in training global youth on policy and provides an opportunity to work on Government of India initiatives. Our vision is to create a youth revolution in public policy participation. 

The Masterclass Programme: 

The program offered is at the core and had to be our unique value proposition. To start with- the 2-day Masterclass was designed to go to cities rather than calling all the talent to one location.

The course was designed as Shatakshi tested her hypothesis in real-time while continuing her post-graduate education and exchange semester at Harvard Business and The Fletcher School in Boston. She realized that internationally the schools are fantastic at teaching the fundamentals of economics and business. However, the gap in practical skills for policy consulting still remains. If that’s the scenario for top schools, one can easily imagine the scenario for others.

Thus, our program is taught by former and current consultants to Indian Government who have studied at international institutes like ISB, INSEAD, Fletcher Yale, etc. and have solved real problems first hand. They come and teach extremely practical policy cases &ranging from healthcare, education to investments) in consultant’s structured driven style. The program also comprises very practical skills such as networking and negotiations.

The story doesn’t stop there, the top 5-10% of the class is also provided with employment through our collaborators in the segment. Thus solving for- both skills and employment through our program. 

Societal impact 

While Shatakshi conducted Masterclass in Boston, Naman further prepped the Indian market to conduct more Masterclasses at a larger scale in India.

In terms of impact, quantitatively we ups-skilled 500 delegates at various Masterclasses ranging from St. Stephen’s College to IIFT New Delhi and provided selected 11 delegates with jobs through our collaboration with Bharti Institute of Public Policy, ISB and Quality Council of India, Ministry of Commerce. 

Qualitatively, to narrate an anecdote- one fellow who is 20 called Shatakshi the other day and expressed his gratitude how he is getting to apply his computer science skills while solving for Haryana’s policy concerns. That’s the level of deep satisfaction and impact we are creating.

Our Goals

It is 2 fold-

1. Expand and go to Indian cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Madras and impact 10X i.e. 5000 delegates and provide 100 more jobs in coming years.
2. We also are planning to collaborate with more policy institutions and organizations for knowledge and employment.

Competition:

Honestly, given the social nature of the space, we are in. We don’t look at others in the form of competitors rather look at them as players who are increasing the size of contribution along with us. Specifically, YLAC, Swaniti Initiative, etc. are players who are also present in a similar segment to us.

Our unique strategy:

We are playing in this niche of public policy consulting where we don’t only get Ministers or Bureaucrats to give Gyaan rather we have working successful policy consultants who impart pragmatic training to the youth. We go to the cities than inviting everyone to a single location. Moreover, our fast-paced module is also something that further makes us practical and unique.

Starting own business:

It’s really helpful if one has worked for a few years in the sector before starting as you get a grasp of how businesses and sector work. Additionally, I firmly believe there is never the right time. Once you believe that you are ready- you can commit to yourself and the venture.

There will always be people around you who might say that you are too young or too old. But eventually, as you start showing results- more and more people would be interested in getting associated with you. You aim, shoot and repeat and learn during the life cycle of the various projects of your venture.