The Idea
The Cocoon Initiative is an invitation to take a pause, slowdown and go within oneself for rest and care. It is an opportunity for a civil society leader to take a break from their work to rest, rejuvenate, reflect and revive their core strengths, clarify their purpose and heal their body, mind and spirit from years of having given fully into one’s cause.
Social Entrepreneurs / Founders / Leaders in the non-profit space rarely take a sabbatical. They tend to keep pushing and pushing at the challenges they wish to solve without realising that over a period – fatigue, exhaustion, burn-out, physical and mental health issues creep in leaving them severely depleted in energy and inspiration.
The aim of this initiative is to facilitate a sabbatical for NGO Founders / CEOs / CXO / leaders (i.e., the person who reports directly to the board). The program provides leaders an opportunity to have an extended break from their work for personal rejuvenation. The opportunity provides a minimum of 3 months of personal funding to the leader. The leader gets to decide how their time is spent (resting, travelling, spending time with family and friends, retreats, learning, wellbeing, health, etc.).
We understand attempting to solve complex societal challenges is not just a marathon but multiple marathons and the only way to stay the course, be inspired is to take intentional pauses to take rest, heal, reflect on the journey travelled so far, process one’s insights and deeply value oneself.
We believe this initiative will give the much-needed support to civil society leaders in India to take a break from their intense work and not have to worry about their personal financial commitments. It will give them the courage to take that step to slow-down, cherish and celebrate how far they have come.
The sabbatical will not only help clarify personal goals and dreams but will also help clear the mind with new insights and ideas and will benefit the organisation when the leaders come back with new energy, ideas, drive and commitment.
Social Entrepreneurs / Founders / Leaders in the non-profit space rarely take a sabbatical. They tend to keep pushing and pushing at the challenges they wish to solve without realising that over a period – fatigue, exhaustion, burn-out, physical and mental health issues creep in leaving them severely depleted in energy and inspiration.
The aim of this initiative is to facilitate a sabbatical for NGO Founders / CEOs / CXO / leaders (i.e., the person who reports directly to the board). The program provides leaders an opportunity to have an extended break from their work for personal rejuvenation. The opportunity provides a minimum of 3 months of personal funding to the leader. The leader gets to decide how their time is spent (resting, travelling, spending time with family and friends, retreats, learning, wellbeing, health, etc.).
We understand attempting to solve complex societal challenges is not just a marathon but multiple marathons and the only way to stay the course, be inspired is to take intentional pauses to take rest, heal, reflect on the journey travelled so far, process one’s insights and deeply value oneself.
We believe this initiative will give the much-needed support to civil society leaders in India to take a break from their intense work and not have to worry about their personal financial commitments. It will give them the courage to take that step to slow-down, cherish and celebrate how far they have come.
The sabbatical will not only help clarify personal goals and dreams but will also help clear the mind with new insights and ideas and will benefit the organisation when the leaders come back with new energy, ideas, drive and commitment.
Purpose of the Cocoon Initiative
To create a fund to support civil society leaders in India to take a sabbatical from their cause to take rest, heal, reflect on the journey travelled so far, process one’s insights and deeply value oneself.
To build an interest for sabbatical support amongst funders / donors / philanthropists so civil society leaders can take intentional breaks for their wellbeing.
To support Civil Society Organizations to build in sabbatical support for their staff in their policies, allocate funds for it and value the wellbeing of their teams.
To build an interest for sabbatical support amongst funders / donors / philanthropists so civil society leaders can take intentional breaks for their wellbeing.
To support Civil Society Organizations to build in sabbatical support for their staff in their policies, allocate funds for it and value the wellbeing of their teams.
Testimonials
“As someone who sits in the position of being both a grantor and a grantee, I've felt we need to do a significantly better job of giving organizations and people the capacity to take care of themselves in a manner that they feel is right for them. I'm incredibly proud and honored to be part of the Cocoon initiative which will give folks who've spent such a large part of their career in the sector a chance to take a well-deserved break. I see this as the first small step that we can and should do to support our NGO leaders.” ~ Donald Lobo, Executive Director, Chintu Gudiya Foundation
“As an NGO leader, we work tirelessly to serve vulnerable communities who have been oppressed, silenced and disenfranchised. In this process, we don't realize the impact this trauma has on our own mental health and well-being. In fact, we even feel selfish or guilty when we take time off, focus on ourselves or at times even draw a salary. The Cocoon Initiative was created to dispel these notions and enable leaders to recharge, replenish and refresh.” ~ Deval Sanghavi, Cofounder & Partner, Dasra
Support Offered
The Cocoon Initiative will offer meaningful financial support towards the sabbatical of the applicant which will be mutually decided post-consultation with the individual. The support will be for the individual setup through their primary organization and will be used exclusively to meet their personal needs and goals for the sabbatical. The Individual can decide the dates and duration of their sabbatical, with a minimum of 3-months and a maximum of 1-year.
The individual will be invited to share a 2–3-page reflection at the end of their sabbatical experience with the Foundation.
The individual will be invited to share a 2–3-page reflection at the end of their sabbatical experience with the Foundation.
Partners
Chintu Gudiya Foundation
Dasra
IDR
Dasra
IDR
Administration of the Support
The financial and operational administration for the support offered will be overseen by Dasra.
The support will be given to the primary organisation that the Individual is associated with. The entire support provided to the organisation has to be used towards supporting the Individual’s sabbatical and not for any other purposes. The organisation will need to have a valid FCRA licence and meet all FCRA compliances.
The support will be given to the primary organisation that the Individual is associated with. The entire support provided to the organisation has to be used towards supporting the Individual’s sabbatical and not for any other purposes. The organisation will need to have a valid FCRA licence and meet all FCRA compliances.
Acknowledgements
The idea took birth at a late evening conversation between Donald Lobo and Vishal Talreja at a team retreat hosted by Indus Action in 2022. Thank you Tarun Cherukuri for bringing us together. Thank you, Nadia Chaney for recommending the inspiring and apt name for this project. Tiyasha Sengupta, Shrutika Jadhav and Sagar from Dasra for their Operational support. Deval Sanghavi from Dasra, Smarinita Shetty from IDR for their invaluable advice and generous support and Donald Lobo, Chintu Gudiya Foundation for his belief in the idea. The pictures used have been taken from pixabay.com under their free content license.