Barefoot College of Tilonia: Lighting Up Rural Lives

In September 2013, Sanjit “Bunker” Roy was honoured with an award for his vision and leadership in addressing global problems through his novel organization, Barefoot College (Barefoot). Barefoot’s mission was to improve the lives of impoverished rural residents by upgrading their existing skills with training so the villages and their residents were self-sufficient. When he started the college in the state of Rajasthan, India, in 1972, Roy never dreamed that Barefoot would be able to affect the lives of millions of people in 24 countries. Barefoot’s global footprint was spreading at a rapid pace with requests for even more locations. Roy wondered whether he should freeze the organization in its present state or continue to increase its presence with a centralized headquarters. Alternatively, he could replicate the autonomous model on a smaller scale, still adherent to the beliefs, values, and assumptions that were the foundation of Barefoot College. This case won second prize at the ISB-Ivey Global Case Competition 2016 in the overall category.

This case is ideal for use in courses that focus on social advocacy and non-profit management at the graduate level. This case provides students with the following:<br><ul><li>An introduction to social entrepreneurship and the core values and philosophy that make the Barefoot model of social innovation sustainable</li><li>Insight into the challenges faced by a non-governmental organization with respect to social innovation, and the value of supporting the community to solve their own problems</li><li>An evaluation of Barefoot College’s social return on investment using an impact value chain</li><li>An understanding of the use of the “five Rs” framework of social innovation to inform Roy’s decision about the future of Barefoot College</li><li>An understanding of servant leadership behaviour, as demonstrated by Roy’s leadership

• social entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, India, Leadership