Nasscom Foundation and Head Held High, a not-for-profit organisation focussed on poverty-eradication initiatives, has announced the Metta Fellowship, an 11-month programme for corporate employees with at least five years of experience.

The fellowship programme aims to onboard 50 corporate employees in its first batch, beginning October 1. It is a combination of academics, grass-root level work and managerial experience for those who are looking for avenues to work in the social sector.

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, the Academic Partner, will provide the theoretical curriculum and conduct a week-long community consciousness orientation programme for the Metta Fellows.

“Metta is a Buddhist term, meaning benevolence, friendship, kindness and active interest in others. True to the name, the Fellowship will offer a great opportunity for the corporate workforce to partner with NGOs to bring about sustainable social change. While the programme will be anchored in Bengaluru, the fellows will have to travel to different cities to work with our partner NGOs for a period of six months,” Shrikant Sinha, CEO, Nasscom Foundation, told BusinessLine . The foundation has partnered with 4,500 NGOs.

The fellowship will incur a cost of ₹2,00,000 per person — covering food, stay and travel of the selected fellows — which will be borne by the Nasscom Foundation and Head Held High.

“We are looking for funding from the corporate community, to cover some of the costs of the programme,” said Rajesh Bhat, co-founder and Director, Head Held High.

Applications to the Fellowship are now open at www.metta.nasscomfoundation.org and will close by September 15. Fellows who successfully complete the programme will be felicitated with the title ‘Social Leaders Par Excellence.’

Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, Nasscom Foundation, said the programme has been crafted to bring out the best skills in corporate associates which can be used to solve social problems. “

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