Challenge:   The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world hard globally. Countries and organizations struggled to  keep going and each one invented their own ways to cope up. Hence, my respective  organization Bayer Pharmaceutical pledged a fund under the name of Hussain  Dawood Pledge to play their part in elevating the country out from the impacts of the  pandemic which included increased poverty levels and joblessness. An MoU was signed by  the Engro Foundation with the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation to combat COVID under  the Leanpro. As per a recent survey by Ehsaas, people living below poverty  line in Pakistan increased from 21% to 36% (~40% as per IMF) due to COVID. Hence, I was  given the responsibility of bringing everyone on one page and devising a strategy to  generate sustained livelihood opportunities by utilizing ~ PKR 160 million.    Selection & Application:   I used the mind mapping tool to generate ideas as to how to attack the problem and devise  a workable strategy that is mutually beneficial for all. There were many questions that  needed to be addressed which included what to do, how to do it, with whom to do it, what  is the value proposition for all stakeholders involved.     Hence, the first thing I did was to reach out to Engro Foundation who was leading the  Leanpro. We then mutually decided to reach out to Ehsaas Foundation in  Pakistan, which is responsible for alleviating the masses out of poverty and enable more  women entrepreneurs, because of our shared goal. We then sat with them to assess their  different programs in order to choose which works best for achieving our goals and  generates value for all of us.     Out of a list of 50 already designed programs of Ehsaas, none of them made sense since we  did not want to restrict ourselves due to program limitations. Hence, we decided to reach  out to our group company Engro Foods who has been involved in employment generation  activities in the past. There, we discovered an additional objective which was of impact  investing. This meant that while EFoods was working for social welfare, they were also  making sure to get business benefit out of it. Hence, we agreed to carry forward the milk  generating and aggregation capability of jobless people in Southern Punjab. We decided on  different kinds of training programs which included Livestock Management Training for  Livestock owners, Livestock Extension Workers Training, Milk Collection Training along with  creation of a support hub.    Insight & Approach:  Once we were done with mind mapping and we had a plan in mind with a clear objective,  Ehsaas program representatives suggested that they have a program called the Ehsaas  Amdan program whereby they can fit in these training programs. The benefit would be  additional help from their implementation partner Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund who  have great connections in the Southern Punjab reason. We determined the scale of our  impact which included generating sustained livelihood for atleast 4000 families (given the  limited funds) as well as creating women entrepreneurs which essentially fulfills the agenda  of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with whom the larger MoU was originally signed. We  decided on a project plan with timelines. Looking back holistically, I wish we had initially  started off directly with mind mapping before trying to fit in any of the Ehsaas Programs.

This could have saved us a lot of time. Moreover, another observation is co-creation with all  relevant stakeholders. We decided on the exact ideas with only a few stakeholders involved.


Challenge : The Covid-19 pandemic hit the world hard globally . Countries and organizations struggled to keep going and each one invented their own ways to cope up . Hence , my respective organization Bayer Pharmaceutical pledged a fund under the name of Hussain Dawood Pledge to play their part in elevating the country out from the impacts of the pandemic which included increased poverty levels and joblessness . An MoU was signed by the Engro Foundation with the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation to combat COVID under the Leanpro . As per a recent survey by Ehsaas , people living below poverty line in Pakistan increased from 21 % to 36 % ( ~40 % as per IMF ) due to COVID . Hence , I was given the responsibility of bringing everyone on one page and devising a strategy to generate sustained livelihood opportunities by utilizing ~ PKR 160 million . Selection & Application : I used the mind mapping tool to generate ideas as to how to attack the problem and devise a workable strategy that is mutually beneficial for all . There were many questions that needed to be addressed which included what to do , how to do it , with whom to do it , what is the value proposition for all stakeholders involved . Hence , the first thing I did was to reach out to Engro Foundation who was leading the Leanpro . We then mutually decided to reach out to Ehsaas Foundation in Pakistan , which is responsible for alleviating the masses out of poverty and enable more women entrepreneurs , because of our shared goal . We then sat with them to assess their different programs in order to choose which works best for achieving our goals and generates value for all of us . Out of a list of 50 already designed programs of Ehsaas , none of them made sense since we did not want to restrict ourselves due to program limitations . Hence , we decided to reach out to our group company Engro Foods who has been involved in employment generation activities in the past . There , we discovered an additional objective which was of impact investing . This meant that while EFoods was working for social welfare , they were also making sure to get business benefit out of it . Hence , we agreed to carry forward the milk generating and aggregation capability of jobless people in Southern Punjab . We decided on different kinds of training programs which included Livestock Management Training for Livestock owners , Livestock Extension Workers Training , Milk Collection Training along with creation of a support hub . Insight & Approach : Once we were done with mind mapping and we had a plan in mind with a clear objective , Ehsaas program representatives suggested that they have a program called the Ehsaas Amdan program whereby they can fit in these training programs . The benefit would be additional help from their implementation partner Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund who have great connections in the Southern Punjab reason . We determined the scale of our impact which included generating sustained livelihood for atleast 4000 families ( given the limited funds ) as well as creating women entrepreneurs which essentially fulfills the agenda of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with whom the larger MoU was originally signed . We decided on a project plan with timelines . Looking back holistically , I wish we had initially started off directly with mind mapping before trying to fit in any of the Ehsaas Programs . This could have saved us a lot of time . Moreover , another observation is co - creation with all relevant stakeholders . We decided on the exact ideas with only a few stakeholders involved .