
The question that acted as an alchemising factor to inspire Pradeep Ghosh to keep exploring the world of social innovation, is the question, “While every industry has Research Labs that bring out new products and processes, the Social sector has none?”. To address this gap, he stepped out of the corporate world and started ‘OASiS – A Social Innovations Lab’ in India, in 2003. Innovating new approaches and models for development, his models have solved long standing problems and issues like Social Security for rural, urban and differently-abled, Education – Urban and Rural, Community livelihoods, Volunteering, etc.
Elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2004, and having won many international innovation awards, his models are being replicated by Government, NGOs, Universities and schools. His innovative model called ‘The Museum School’ won UNESCO’s Education Innovation Award for 2016.
Budding social entrepreneurs mentored by his Lab have received national acclaim. He’s now replicating the Social Innovation Lab internationally, through Universities, and grassroots too.
While most Startup Incubators provide support to promising ideas, there is no Incubator that helps an individual develop an idea itself. OASiS with its in-house designed approaches to social innovation, fills this gap by supporting its Mentees from ‘Ideation to Implementation and Institution’.
Equipped with three decades of Corporate and Social sector experience as a Design Thinker, Innovator, and Problem Solver, I have now ventured on a personal journey to help Grassroot organisations (CSOs / NGOs) design holistic, culturally relevant, environmentally supportive and self-sustainable solutions, for the problems and issues they see in the communities they serve. As said by Pradeep. “At this age, I still nurture the heart of a child, and get excited with every new problem”. He believes and follows the quote by George Bernard Shaw, “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say, ‘Why not?’.”
Pradeep enriches SRREOSHI with his exponentially rich and diverse experiences of “Entrepreneurship development and Social Enterprise” as a tool for bringing tangible changes in life and livelihoods of women and girls.