Skilled Impact

Skilled Impact provided us with so much support from the beginning until the end of the placement. Help was provided with logistical things such as taking us from the airport to the accommodation as well as in helping us develop a cultural understanding of the city and providing information about travelling opportunities. For example, after a recommendation from Anna, the other volunteers and I travelled to Hampi, Karnataka for a weekend break where we got to see a range of different temples and monkeys. Similarly, if any minor issues arose from the placement, we all felt very comfortable to contact Skilled Impact, who were more than happy to provide any advice and supported us in finding solutions. The ability to tailor both the work placement and the leisure time to my own interests during the stay helped me to achieve as much as I could during my seemingly short month-long stay in Hyderabad.

Volunteering with Skilled Impact was a very enriching experience that I would warmly recommend to anyone looking for a way to support positive change in society. During one month, I worked for the partner organization Surge Impact, helping them to develop a digital marketing strategy. One month is only a short time and I would have stayed longer if I could, but it was one intense month during which I learned a lot. Working in a startup environment with Surge Impact's great team is an incredible opportunity to learn more about social entrepreneurship while actually contributing to it. Also, many of my friends and family thought I was crazy to go to India on my own as a girl, but I did not feel unsafe for a single moment. Hyderabad is a nice city to live in and the people from Skilled and Surge Impact (and the other locals) are very friendly and supportive. Volunteering here is a great way to help in an impactful organization while fully experiencing the Indian culture and developing yourself.

After completing a three-month Rural teaching fellowship through Skilled Impact, I stayed on to do their Social Entrepreneurship placement in Hyderabad. Having recently finished a conceptual degree programme the placement was the perfect way to move away from abstract learning and into the very real and fast-paced social entrepreneurial world.
The dynamic nature of business accelerators and the friendliness of the organisation made for an extremely flexible and continuously changing placement that gave me the opportunity to work in many areas depending on my interests or skillsets.
The organisation has an active presence in India’s social entrepreneurial community and involves itself in conferences, networking events and other groups which is very exciting to be part of and means you’re not confined to an office. During my placement I found myself on a four-day trip to India’s West coast for a Women’s entrepreneurs conference which was very interesting.
Having come straight out of University and with little knowledge of the space I came away with a much greater understanding of social entrepreneurship and its potential for social change. This, along with a number of transferable skills and an enhanced CV.
I found Hyderabad to be a modern and vibrant city with a huge amount going on. There are countless workshops, meet-ups, sport clubs and social groups to join and a vast natural India to explore beyond Hyderabad. Skilled Impact was a supportive and professional organisation and particularly good at settling me into Hyderabad and connecting me with people or organisations that I may find interesting.

I was paired with Surge Impact in Hyderabad. Surge Impact is a not-for-profit social enterprise accelerator. I worked as a business mentor advising the start-ups they were supporting, primarily helping the companies with pitching and investor presentations. I also helped the Surge Team in identifying and selecting companies for their next batch.

There are lots of volunteering opportunities out there, but very few allow you to leverage your skills in the way that this allowed me to. I have a background both as an entrepreneur and lawyer - and felt the skills and experience I had gained - were both specific and generalist enough for me to have an impact at the early stages at which the businesses were.

It was a unique opportunity to be immersed into the world of social entrepreneurship (which I had not been before), as well as to experience life as a local in India, living and working in Hyderabad. I got to meet some really interesting people through the programme, including the Surge Team itself and the founder Raj.

Hyderabad is a vibrant, up and coming, modern and energetic city that many people skip when they visit India. I really enjoyed getting beneath the surface of the city and it was especially fun being in Hyderabad at the same time as other volunteers with whom I was sharing accommodation (which was provided by Surge Impact). The apartment was extremely spacious and in a great location in the city centre (Begumpet).

The team at Surge did a great job of making me feel at home, and provided for a really enjoyable month of volunteering. The team at Skilled Impact helped by making it all come together effortlessly.

India may appear or at times feel overwhelming to those who are new to it - but the guys at Surge and Skilled Impact will certainly make you feel at home, if you are not accustomed to the hustle and bustle (which fortunately I was - being my fifth time)!