The Fringe Benefits
Anirban Roy 34 Romira Roy 32 FOUNDERS Seed, Delhi
Husband-wife duo Anirban and Romira Roy realised during their corporate stints as senior consultant with Ernst and Young and HR manager with Tata Power respectively that there exists a huge chasm between corporate social responsibility ( CSR) goals of companies and their implementation. Graduates of Indian Management Institute, Delhi, they decided to make a difference.“we wanted Seed to act as a bridge for better implementation of CSR activities and to ensure communities receive greater benefits,” says Anirban, its executive director. Founded in 2006, Seed’s work includes facilitating financial inclusion by helping those with no access to banks. The Roys also work with companies such as SAIL and Reliance Industries to improve the living standards of communities in and around project sites. Romira puts things in perspective,“CSR even today is seen by many as just empty philanthropy. We want to work towards establishing professional vigour in the field.”
Mining areas are sensitive. We trusted Seed’s credibility, so we approached them to help us with our development projects.”
Mukund gorakshkar,
Head of csr, jsw group
Seed to Sapling
Seed began as a two-person team. It now employs more than 3,000 people.
Growing Footprint
Seed has now expanded into separate sections for financial services, infrastructure and CSR- oriented projects.