SMU Lotus Initiative

LLF has pledged a contribution of $3 million to Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Lien Centre for Social Innovation to strengthen the local capabilities in Nepal to tackle poverty in entrepreneurial and innovative ways.

SMU Lotus Initiative

Lien Centre and Lotus Life Foundation are implementing a multi-pronged social innovation and entrepreneurship development partnership involving different stakeholders over five years. The initiative aims to

  • develop skills and build a core network of partners and practitioners in Nepal to support the capability building work
  • engage SMU faculty and students, social purpose organisations, social innovators and entrepreneurs
  • and other multi-sector partners and professionals to contribute towards social betterment in Nepal.

How?

To achieve the aforementioned objectives, a suite of six interconnected programmes will be conducted. They are:

  • Appointment of Practice Fellows with the relevant skills and experience to work with local stakeholders to produce well-informed recommendations and interventions for improving rural livelihood.
  • Boot camp training in Nepal to develop skills and knowledge in social innovation and entrepreneurship.
  • Identification and provision of assistance, through experts and local stakeholders, to develop technological capabilities for improving rural livelihood.
  • Identification and provision of assistance, through experts and local stakeholders, in areas such as rural entrepreneurship development and product development to improve rural livelihood.
  • Support for SMU faculty to develop research as well as curriculum and resources related to rural entrepreneurial development in Nepal through SMU’s unique SMU-X experiential courses in which students work with stakeholder clients to improve business processes, productivity and connectivity.
  • Development of dynamic monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track and report on the outcomes of the programmes, and to produce useful evidence-based insights to share with the wider community of practitioners.