• Women Entrepreneur

Her smile is infectious, her twang unmistakably Australian. And even in the overcrowded Khar railway station, which is a stone’s throw from her office, Emily Harrison stands out by a wide, wide mile. This young entrepreneur has made a long journey, geographically speaking, to reach her journey’s end in the city of Mumbai.

Around 8,000 km from her home in outback Queensland, Australia-born Harrison traveled to India four years ago to head a six-month social welfare project in rural Tamil Nadu. The project involved living amongst the villagers and dealing with local NGOs.
Though she has traveled to a number of countries around the world and despite the cultural difference between India and Australia, Harrison claims that she felt a certain sense of homecoming when she visited India. “The warmth of the people here and their sense of humor is similar to what Australians have,” says Harrison. It wasn’t long before she decided that she would come back to settle down here.
After a short stint back in Australia for six months, Harrison moved to India in 2008. Having understood the opportunities in the larger social development sector in the country, Harrison decided to set up her company, Innovaid, working in this sphere.
Innovaid was started in 2008 in Mumbai to play an advisory role for companies who want to ensure that their philanthropic and CSR activities have a lasting impact on society.

Opportunity beckons
“There are many people who want to contribute to social development, are financially in a position to do so, but do not know how to go about it. After being exposed to a few corrupt NGOs, I realized that you could give your money to an NGO or donate money in the name of a social cause but there is no way to actually be involved in the process. So, you can never ensure that the resources actually reach the right people to bring about the expected results,” explains Harrison. She began by focusing on celebrities. “I realized that there are celebrities who contribute to a certain event here or there but there is no real focus to their activities,” she says.

Celebrity clientele
Harrison began her journey at Innovaid by bringing on the Steve Waugh Foundation as one of her first clients. Today her organization has amongst its clients Indian and Australian film personalities and sportsmen, including Brett Lee. Indian celebrities on her client list include Anupam Kher, Rahul Bose, Gul Panag, Abhinav Bindra, the Rajasthan Royals T20 cricket team and a member of one of India’s
royal families.
As far as companies are concerned, Harrison realized that while there were some which undertake philanthropic and CSR activities, there was a need to make the companies see the benefit in assisting social development to make the process sustainable. “NGOs speak a language that the corporate world doesn’t mostly understand and the corporates speak a language that the NGOs don’t get,” explains Harrison.

How it works
Innovaid works towards planning philanthropic and CSR activities for companies, ensuring that they get
lasting returns in terms of branding as well as improved employee satisfaction and retention.
Innovaid also helps celebrities set up and run foundations and also manages their philanthropic activities. The company also designs programs for existing foundations and helps develop campaigns for companies to help them get involved with an issue of social significance. After the celebrity identifies a social issue that he wishes to be involved with, Innovaid comes into the picture by identifying the most appropriate NGOs and institutions that the celebrity can work with.
The company then creates concepts that would add the celebrity value to the cause in an effective manner, while also ensuring that the celebrity is sufficiently and closely involved with the cause. Concepts and programs designed by Innovaid are in a range of segments like women’s issues and music therapy for Brett Lee’s foundation, Mewsic.
Client-speak
When Entrepreneur got in touch with the former Australian cricketer, Brett Lee was all praise for Innovaid. “I first met Harrison in India in 2008.  She was doing some work with the Steve Waugh Foundation which impressed me. We are like-minded people driven by the same passions: India, and making a difference to the lives of disadvantaged kids who live there,” says Lee.
He adds that Innovaid formulated a number of diverse programs which would make a lasting, sustainable difference in children’s lives. “We have four key areas of focus: Music for Healing, Music for Education, Music for Empowerment and Music for Advocacy. It is all about using music to heal emotional wounds and ignite that flame inside children, so they can rise above their current situation in life,” he says.
Lee has invested Rs.30 lakh in his foundation in India and its multiple programs. He is happy with the response to his programs, which he calls “fantastic.” Ask him if he will continue to let Innovaid run his foundation in India, and Lee says, “Yes. It is an association both parties value and I look at Innovaid as an extension of my company in Sydney.”
Reji Mathews, CEO, Thwack Sports, a sports goods manufacturing company, has been associated with Innovaid for the last four months.
Thwack, a company with Rs.60 crore turnover, wanted to invest a certain part of its earnings in setting up a foundation to help sports infrastructure and help people realize their potential through sports.
Harrison planned a set of programs for identifying sports talent in children who cannot afford sports training, and in spreading a culture of sports with Thwack. “I am happy with the strategy and planning. However, the programs only begin implementation this year,”
says Mathews.

Challenges faced
Harrison feels that her biggest challenges so far have not been the bureaucracy or finding the right people. “It has been a struggle to stay positive, face the challenges and find a support system in India,” she says.
Her start up costs weren’t too high. The only thing she invested in was a laptop and, a few months later, in hiring a few employees who were working out of her home in Mumbai.
Harrison has not looked for external funds yet since she is keen to retain her control over the organization.

Smooth run
Innovaid has made a turnover of Rs.1 crore and Harrison now plans to grow and expand the company on a much larger scale. “There is a whole list of celebrities and corporates I am yet to approach. So the scope seems immense,” she signs off.

Tags:
Emily Harrison, Innovaid