Foundation for Economic Development

Years of experience

20+ years

Location

Chennai Lucknow

Skills

Detail Oriented Knowledge Management Partnership Building Policy Stakeholder Management Strategy

Partner concept

Change of the kind that FED is looking to create requires deep commitment and long-term embeddedness in the appropriate context. This is why we want to operate through a ‘Partner’ driven structure. FED Partners will own and champion the goal of furthering broad-based economic growth within their area – geographical or sectoral. They will determine and implement strategies to

  • Build prioritisation and focus on economic growth
  • Create support for key reforms
  • Ensure effective outcome-oriented implementation of reforms

They will also be the primary relationship holders with policymakers and influencers in their area. FED partners will be supported by a small team that helps them expand their bandwidth, and a central team that supports them with key collateral and economic research and reasoning.

Partner Profile

These would be mission aligned professionals who have been successful in their career, feel strongly about the economic growth agenda and want to take up a public-spirited cause to contribute to nation building and development.

About Us

Foundation for Economic Development (FED) is a Delhi-based non-profit organization that aims to bring about sustained and broad-based economic growth of over 10% in India. The evidence clearly shows that economic growth is the best tool to lift people out of poverty and improve the quality of life for everyone. Until 1991, India’s poverty rate remained nearly unchanged from independence at ~50%. Post liberalisation, poverty reduced to ~20% with 35 crore (350 million) fewer people living in abject poverty. Since 2010, sustaining fast growth has been challenging as the easy gains have been realized. It is critical for India to maintain a growth rate of over 10% for long periods of time if we want Indians’ quality of life to improve rapidly and sustainably.

FED will identify select sectors of the economy which have the highest potential for generating incremental growth and jobs and then work with policymakers to make it happen. The organization has Dr Arvind Panagariya, Naushad Forbes, Gurcharan Das, Jerry Rao and Ashish Dhawan on its advisory board who are helping shape the thinking and execution.

Our Work

FED has identified Export Led Labour Intensive Manufacturing and Tourism as the highest opportunity sectors for generating additional growth through aggressive reforms over the next few years.

Our Approach

FED work streams are divided into three primary areas

  1. Research and Strategy: Deep dive into identified sectors, speak to relevant stakeholders, study practices from other countries and flesh out evidence backed ideas for change.
  2. Communication and Outreach: Build salience for opportunities in target sectors and need for reforms through op-eds in relevant channels, social media as well as one on one engagement with key bureaucrats and policymakers.
  3. Implementation Support: Work with select state governments in helping implement specific actions to promote the target sectors. The team is currently working closely with the UP Government on its “Mission Trillion Dollar” economy. The team is also working with Telangana and Tamil Nadu governments on their economic growth agenda.

Key Responsibilities

  • Build an active network/community of policy makers and policy adjacent influencers
  • Create awareness of the economic imperatives of growth, exports and reforms
  • Develop reform ideas that are pragmatic and enhance growth and competitiveness
  • Manage a small team and support the relevant government on shaping and implementing their growth strategy

Required Qualifications, Skills, and Abilities:

  • Masters or equivalent degree, preferably in Economics, Public Policy, Business Administration, or Public Administration from a top tier institution.
  • ~20 years of experience
  • Demonstrated ability to build and maintain high level networks