MITTI Social Initiatives Foundation: Scaling New Heights

In 2017, a woman with no background in business management or entrepreneurship, started a new venture called MITTI Social Initiatives Foundation in Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore), India. The nonprofit organization was driven by the passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion of its founder, who had a determination to overcome challenges and a drive to learn. The organization was run by a team of mainly women from diverse backgrounds and was managed by employees who were largely from lower socio-economic strata and had physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or mental health conditions. Despite its young age, the organization was able to reorient its strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic to launch several new business verticals. In fact, after the pandemic, the company accelerated its organizational momentum and opened eight new cafes in 2022 and 12 more in 2023. The founder, however, had to think and act strategically to increase the venture’s impact on livelihood and inclusion by achieving growth, without diluting the organization’s informal and caring culture.

This case is suited to undergraduate and graduate courses on leadership, social entrepreneurship, and strategy—specifically, corporate social responsibility and DEI strategies. If students are familiar with DEI concepts, the instructor can use this case to discuss the concepts of diversity and inclusion versus equity and equality. For students who are familiar with social entrepreneurship concepts, the instructor can enhance their understanding by discussing how social enterprises differ from other business ventures. In a strategy course, the case can be used to teach business strategies, business models, and competitive advantage, as well as illustrating related topics such as corporate social responsibility strategy and environmental, social, and governance strategy. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<ul><li>Understand the challenges of starting a social enterprise with DEI (especially inclusion) at its core and the role of persistence and perseverance in attaining success.</li><li>Analyze the business model of a social enterprise in the livelihood and inclusion space and learn about achieving a balance between DEI and business goals.</li><li>Evaluate the importance of partnerships in a social entrepreneurial venture’s success and appraise how even a broad and seemingly debilitating crisis can be turned into an opportunity if the leader and the organization have a clear vision, a strong commitment to their DEI mission, and a positive mindset.</li><li>Evaluate alternatives for making an organization’s impact bigger and propose concrete strategies to the protagonist in the case.</li></ul>

• social enterprise, DEI, business model,
• person with disability, social impact