Welcome & Introductions Thread

General
1

You & I are here because we care about climate change, and we believe this needs us all to act to solve the various problems related to this as the mainstream, not a small fringe. We believe this will need thousands of concerned and interested folks thinking about the problems and a huge array of different solutions in deep ways, many thousands trying things on the ground, spreading the messages about these, collaborating. We also believe almost everyone on the planet needs to understand the importance and urgency of these efforts.

We will not always think the same way, or about the same problems. We will have different paths in our journeys and even disagree on specific solutions and methods. But weā€™re all here because we have a common intent, vision and desire - to see how we can rewild this planet we call home, how we can live better with it, how our economy and the work we do align better with its health and survival and thus, in turn, our own.

Iā€™m Sameer Shisodia, work at Rainmatter Foundation and welcome you here. Iā€™d written this a while ago, and in a sense this encapsulates an array of focus areas for me : https://zenx.medium.com/the-six-dots-problem-re-imagining-india-b7d81b223827. As Rainmatter, weā€™re focused on climate change with rewilding as a primary area, and also the creation of green jobs and a green economy, distributed across the country beyond the big metros. We are also assisting the community with FOSS efforts, as well as helping entrepreneurs whose efforts we believe align with these directions. We believe this is a long journey and these steps will add to the efforts of many of you to create a significant, permanent change in favour of our ecology and ecosystems.

Weā€™re hosting this as Rainmatter Foundation, but we truly hope this space belongs to the many who land here through various journeys. Weā€™d love to see a cross pollination of ideas, connections, collaborations take off and these efforts become how we live on this planet. And we hope to learn from you, and be of assistance where we can.

Do introduce yourself (and your organization, if any) and also share your area(s) of interest, desire and opportunities for collaboration and what help you could do with.

Update : Folks, if you want to connect for collaboration/support, please do the same at [email protected] - we want to keep the forum only for the sharing of information and ideas in the community, and will be unable to track pitches/requests for connects etc here.

35 Likes
3

Thanks for the intro @sameershisodia. I am Kailash, and I volunteer at the Rainmatter Foundation. I head technology at Zerodha, and we setup Rainmatter to channel the success weā€™ve had at Zerodha to the causes weā€™re passionate aboutā€”climate and environment.

As an individual, I am extremely concerned about the systemic ecological destruction we are inflicting on the planet. I feel ā€œclimate griefā€, and many major decisions in my life are based on these concerns. I believe that individual action is as important as collective / policy action, more for wiring oneself to be empathetic to the planet than seeking immediate results, a common misconception.

20 Likes
4

I think Sameer spoke for all of us when he mentioned intent, vision and desire to contribute towards the goal of solving a trans-generational problem.

I am Dinesh Pai, and I was born and brought up in Udupi district in Karnataka. I am glad to be a part of Rainmatter Foundation and help with projects and initiatives we take up. Looking forward to solving all the challenges that lie ahead in our path.

13 Likes
5

Iā€™m Karthik, and I volunteer at the Rainmatter Foundation. I head Education Services at Zerodha.

All these years, Iā€™ve been rather indifferent towards climate change and the irreversible effect it has on our planet. But thanks to the series of conversations we have had at Zerodha (over the last couple of years), I now understand the magnitude of the destruction we humans have caused to our planet.

The key trigger for me was awareness. With awareness, Iā€™m now more sensitive towards climate change and ecological destruction. Iā€™m trying to adopt a lifestyle which is planet-friendly and also inculcate similar thoughts to both my daughters.

Iā€™m here largely to learn and play my part in making this a better planet.

14 Likes
6

I am Nithin and I volunteer at the Rainmatter foundation. My full-time job is to lead the team at Zerodha which has transformed the stockbroking industry in India for good, in less than 10 years, with no external capital, and never ever compromising customer interest over revenue/growth.

My biggest learning has been that even small groups of people with the right intent and skills can potentially solve large problems. It is all about getting the right set of people together and I am hoping that this forum can help to connect some of those dots.

I am here to interact, learn, and contribute in whatever way possible to help conserve and restore our planet.

19 Likes
7

I am Seema, I volunteer at the Rainmatter foundation. I am part of quality and human resources at Zerodha. Certain people in my life have played a huge part in developing my awareness of the climate crisis.

I am here to learn, and help in any way possible to conserve and restore this planet for the future generations.

12 Likes
8

I am Shoaib and I volunteer at the Rainmatter foundation. I head Onboarding at Zerodha.

The discussions I have had with my peers has brought in the awareness of climate change in me, I am now more sensitive towards this. I am getting started with changing my lifestyle in whatever way possible to make it more eco-friendly and trying to inculcate the same in my family.

I am here to learn and contribute in whatever way possible to help our planet.

10 Likes
9

I am Vishnu, I work in the tech team of Zerodha. For me, this is the most exciting initiative by Zerodha and Iā€™m glad to be a part of it. Looking forward to working with everyone in spreading awareness, finding solutions, and hoping to make a change in the world for the greater good of the planet :slight_smile:

11 Likes
10

Hi, Iā€™m Mitesh Thakkar, Iā€™m a straggler who has stumbled upon a similar path/question as all of you: How do we change course quickly (like in yesterday) to address climate change problems?

Iā€™m new to the environmental sector, but I have narrowed down my future endeavors around the mission ā€œmaximize bio-diverse ecosystemsā€. There are likely to be numerous paths to this goal, but I hope it will serve as a guiding North Star to keep realigning towards.

My career has been in the education and social development sector, with a dose of tech-entrepreneurship. Iā€™m currently exploring ways to create/promote financial asset classes / investment instruments that can attract greater investments into forestry, re-wilding, conservation and related products/services. So, looking forward to inputs/discussions with any of you who would like to share their 2 paisa (and more).

I have worked with the World Bank, UNDP, etc. and other multilateral/govt. agencies / foundations. So, if I can be of any help on that front, ping me.

14 Likes
11

Welcome aboard, Mitesh. Iā€™m sure your experience will be super useful to many NGOs and efforts. Do hang around till this warms up :slight_smile: It would be amazing to understand how the economic/prosperity of a village is measured and how HDI and ecological measures figure in that. When you get time, do kick off a thread on that.

5 Likes
12

Hi - this is Shameek - I run www.farmizen.com. Agriculture is hugely culpable for causing environmental damage. The good news is - regenerative agriculture can also undo quite a bit of the damage. In order to enable adoption of regenerative agriculture in masses, we need a non-exploitative alternate market linkage system for farmers who choose to shepherd their soil in ways that benefit all of us. Thats what we have been trying to build at farmizen.

9 Likes
13

Welcome here, Shameek! Iā€™ve been a big fan (and customer) of Farmizen. Look forward to ideas and help from you.

3 Likes
14

Hi, Santosh here. I have had this deep relationship with forests as a student during our trekking expeditions. Loved all the different ecosystems from dry deciduous, to evergreen ghats. I realized nature is my peace and happy space as much as I loved geeking out on abstract physics. BUT I quickly realized this paradise will be lost before my kids get to experience it.

My mission then was to figure the workings of our present socio economic system by working within it and see what are the systemic ways we can adopt to leverage the strengths of the system to our intended goals.

This has taken me from being a coordinator to promote public transport (buses and trains) through Janaagraha. But sustainability is complete only when the premise of inevitabity of urbanization is not taken to extreme. Hence I shifted focus to sustainable agriculture work with Green foundation.
The learning was sustainability is beyond mere ā€˜organic farmingā€™ but addressing livelihoods in a enterprise model. One such venture that am proud to be associated with is Earth360 eco ventures that is focused on developing the whole millet supply chain from farm to fork but prioritizing local consumption first.
To scale this model, I have worked with WASSAN foundation that works with govt of AP and Orrisa.
Am presently launching an enterprise to create local post harvest infrastructure on a build operate transfer model. At the demand side in the city, will be launching a store and platform to service the producers.

Thanks to Sameer, Beforest at TVC and his patient time in mentoring me has given me the confidence and capacities to venture into green micro enterprises.

Looking forward from the teams expertise in areas of ERP(supply chain management)

7 Likes
15

Welcome aboard, Santhosh. I never thought of it as mentoring - I was learning from you all the time! :slight_smile:

4 Likes
16

Welcome @shameek_c. Customer here! Farmizen is really cool .

4 Likes
17

Hi I am Vigneshwar.

I have co-founded Projectkshemapura (named after erstwhile name of Gerusoppa, my native in Honnavar).

The intent is to see if we could facilitate people do urban jobs in non-metro set up.

We are still figuring out on specifics and are doing bunch of experimentation

A) Can we build experience (UX) for mass by having designers who share the socio-economic background of the ā€œmassā€. We have branded it as Arivu and itā€™s been functional for a year.

B) Can we build a learning platform for Uttarakannada which is focused on skill building and not exam/job. We named it as 6tfour. It is in hiatus owing to covid.

C) Gig platform , so that people donā€™t have to migrate to Banaswadi to earn what they can earn by moving to their nearest Taluk. Infosys-ization of desk work. Status: experimenting in small doses at Arivu.

Not really sure how I fit into the pack of eco-warriers :slight_smile:
But I believe most of urbanization happened around the concepts of industrial era, which is redundant, but is still leading to migration to select few cities

6 Likes
18

Hi, Iā€™m Anand. I volunteer for FOSS United.

Iā€™m a person who like to have feet on ground and care a lot about nature. Knew @sameershisodia through Linger and the Tamarind Valley Collective and @knadh through FOSS United. Very excited to see this forum and looking forward to contribute in whatever small way possible.

4 Likes
19

Nice to see that @anandology and @sameershisodia know each other!

20

Hey everyone,

Seems like I am very late to this party :slight_smile:

I am Rishabh Lalani and have been in the non-profit space for the last 7.5 years and before that was in corporate sector for the first four years of my career. Iā€™ve largely assisted non-profit organisations to raise funds, and figure creative ways of being self reliant. Having seen poverty from close quarters, I think my core calling in life has been to help, in whatever way and format possible. The non-profit sector seems to provide that opportunity :slight_smile:

Iā€™ve helped channel a little over USD 6 million (including some from Zerodha) in funding to the social sector working across a range of issues - homelessness, gender empowerment, disability, social and environmental justice, theatre, free media to name a few.

Iā€™m here to listen, be a sounding board and to keep learning. Thank you for creating this community.

8 Likes