Deshpande Foundation plans to take the findings/lessons of north western Karnataka Sandbox (commonly called Hubli Sandbox) to the newly launched sandbox in the Massachusetts of the US.

Sandbox is an environment where fresh ideas get incubated and build a meaningful relationship with like-minded peers, learn from senior leaders and gain access to opportunities that will help them grow.

The foundation's Hubli Sandbox comprise of five north Karnataka districts – Dharwad, Belgaum, Gadag, Haveri and Uttar Kannada.

“In addition to the efforts in Karnataka, we are pleased to announce that we've launched a new sandbox in the Merrimack Valley region in Massachusetts to fight poverty-related issues,” said Mr Gururaj ‘Desh' Deshpande, a serial entrepreneur who is well known for creating IT companies such as Cascade and Sycamore in the US.

With a similar focus on social entrepreneurship, innovation and scale, the Merrimack Valley Sandbox (MVS) will take lessons from Hubli Sandbox and apply them in the US.

Few initiatives in Hubli Sandbox which have made impact on five lakh families in north western Karnataka are: Akshaya Patra Foundation (provides midday meals to 1.2 million children a day in schools). Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled (is empowering visually impaired and disabled children). Agastya International Foundation (is a grass root initiative to support and transform education. The foundation has reached about four million children and 1.5 lakh teachers in rural India).

BAIF (working on farming and livestock quality has transformed nearly 2,500 families in 22 villages in Kalaghatagi and Hubli taluks of Karnataka).

AME Foundation (is working on livelihood improvement of resource poor farmers through eco friendly farming systems) and Baala Balaga (Students and parents are the part of each and every decision making exercise. There are no uniform, innovative methods of learning and teaching for overall development).

“We launched this initiative in Massachusetts on December 9, 2010 with the first-ever Development Dialogue in the United States. The two Sandboxes, which reside in very different environments, share the same goal of creating opportunities for everyone through innovation and entrepreneurship. Our hope is that both sandboxes will provide excellent opportunities to learn from each other,” said Mr Gururaj Deshpande.

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