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About Us

An initiative of the Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship (DCSE) in Hubli, India, the Deshpande Fellowship Program (DFP) takes young professionals with a passion for inspiring social change and immerses them in a unique environment designed to produce strong social leaders. The Fellowship is a rigorous, 7-month residential training program based around 3 main pillars:

  • Modules: DFP puts its Fellows through a rigorous and enriching course of modules that cover three general areas: skills, knowledge, and management. Modules are taught by specialists in the respective fields who come to DCSE from across India to share their expertise. Fellows solidify their knowledge through various individual and group activities such as debates and presentations. Also, each module includes a component of hands-on practice. The DFP modules provide the theoretical framework necessary for success in the development sector and for building successful new enterprises.

  • Guest Speakers: The best way to learn is through experience. For this reason, DFP invites notable guest speakers to DCSE on a weekly basis. Through these sessions, Fellows are given the opportunity to learn from the experiences of people who have already navigated the road to success. Speakers come from a broad range of fields to maximize the Fellows’ opportunities for learning.

  • “Learning by Doing”: Throughout the Fellowship, Fellows are given opportunities to practice and apply every concept and skill that they have learned in the classroom. Apart from the modules, on a weekly basis Fellows go out to serve the community through Leadership Activities. Entrepreneurship Activities teach Fellows the intricacies of business and marketing, and throughout the Fellowship they work to develop, plan, manage and execute a wide variety of Fundraising Events. To date, Fellows have conducted more than 900+ Leadership Activities, generated more than Rs 75,000 through Entrepreneurship Activities, and raised more than Rs 5.5 lakh through various Fundraising Events.
The result is a strong group of budding social entrepreneurs ready to lead the way to social change in Karnataka, in India, and beyond.