Sewa International - Reimagining Nonprofits: Leadership, Community, and Volunteer Power

What is Policy Cafe?

Policy Cafe is a community-centered virtual conversation series that brings together grassroots and policy perspectives on key public policy challenges.

Invitation

We invite you to a high-impact virtual Policy Cafe on the topic “Reimagining Nonprofits: Leadership, Community, and Volunteer Power”, which will be held on September 9th, 2025, where experts across the nonprofit ecosystem will come together to discuss and co-develop strategies for scalable, cost-effective, and decentralized volunteer management in nonprofits.

Your voice matters! Register now and help shape policies that empower Non-Profits to deliver maximum impact.

For inquiries: policy-research@sewausa.org

Themes for Discussion:

Nurturing Volunteer Leaders: Models, Opportunities, and Challenges: Exploring how nonprofits can unlock volunteer potential beyond operational tasks, fostering deeper civic participation and leadership. It will examine nonprofit models where volunteers hold executive and board-level leadership roles, rooted in the spirit of professional volunteerism.

Governing a Volunteer-led Organization: Opportunities and Challenges: Exploring how volunteer-led governance models can drive sustainable impact while navigating the complexities of volunteer leadership. It will examine how decentralized, value-driven volunteer-led structures foster accountability, resilience, and community ownership, alongside the unique challenges they pose.

Keynote Speaker

S.P. Kothari

Former Chief Economist and Director,
Division of Economic and Risk Analysis at US Securities and Exchange Commission

S.P. Kothari is the Gordon Y. Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He previously served as Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2019–2021), Deputy Dean of MIT Sloan, and Global Head of Equity Research at Barclays Global Investors. He has also served as a Director of the Bombay Stock Exchange and currently sits on several corporate boards.

Professor Kothari is a recipient of India’s Padma Shri award (2020) and holds honorary doctorates from London Business School, the University of Cyprus, and the University of Technology, Sydney.

Panelists