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India’s social sector faces persistent funding fragmentation and capacity gaps—hindering the ability of nonprofits to scale impact and meet the needs of vulnerable communities.

• Dasra serves as a nonprofit systems orchestrator, building bridges between NGOs, funders, and government to unlock collaborative, long-term solutions grounded in equity and centered in community.
• Founded in 1999, Dasra (meaning “enlightened giving” in Sanskrit) began as a venture philanthropy fund and has evolved into a key driver of ecosystem change in India’s development landscape.
• To date, Dasra has mobilized over USD 420M, supported 1,500+ NGOs, advised 800+ funders, and helped shape government and philanthropic strategies that have reached 200M+ lives.

• For example, through the 10 to19 Dasra Adolescent Collaborative, Neera raised USD 75M with over 60 partners—including government, NGOs, and funders—to improve outcomes for 5 million adolescents across India in health, education, employability and agency.
• Neera has spent over two decades shaping India’s social impact ecosystem, leading initiatives on adolescent empowerment, urban sanitation, governance, climate and philanthropy leadership.
• She has co-created collaborative platforms like GivingPi, ClimateRISE, and the Adolescent Girls Collaborative, and enabled USD 420M in funding through data-driven sector insights.
• She is currently pursuing her PhD in women-led philanthropy at Indiana University; she has a Harvard MBA and is an India Leadership Fellow with the Aspen Institute
• Neera is also a recipient of the Governor General’s Medallion (Canada); Vogue Women of the Year in Social Enterprise and the Forbes Philanthropy Award in the Crossover Leaders category.

Dasra is a �۶���Ƶ Optimus Foundation partner

�۶���Ƶ Optimus Foundation partnered with Dasra in 2021 to co-design our ‘children in families’ collective impact initiative, the Transform Collective. Now backbone organization to the Transform Collective’s India basket of grantees called ‘Neev’ (strong foundations), Dasra supports our five local partners to demonstrate a preventative, family-based model of children’s social care.