Community Foundation
Building a Community-Owned Future
At Gramin Evam Nagar Vikas Parishad (GENVP), we believe that communities have the strength, knowledge, and resources to contribute to their own development. With this belief, GENVP has been working for many years to organize and empower Dalit communities across Bihar, creating opportunities for people to come together, identify their needs, and take collective action for their social and economic development.
Project Overview
Project Title: Establishment of Institutionalized Systems for Development of Community Philanthropy amongst the Dalit Communities in Bihar
Duration: 2015 onwards
Supported By: Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF)
With the support of GFCF, GENVP began strengthening a community-led approach to philanthropy and development. The initiative created spaces where members of Dalit communities could come together, share their experiences, discuss the challenges they face, and explore how their own skills, resources, and contributions could support the development of their communities.
The idea was simple but powerful: development should not always come from outside; communities themselves can become a source of support and change.
Through consultations and community gatherings, GENVP worked towards building greater unity and cooperation among the nearly two dozen sub-caste groups that form part of the Dalit community in Bihar. The initiative also focused on giving greater visibility and strength to the emerging Dalit Community Foundation.
Our Objective
The main objective was to establish and strengthen the Dalit Community Foundation as a platform through which local community efforts could be connected with wider state and national-level institutions, networks, and policy processes.
The foundation aims to encourage community members to contribute according to their abilities and resources while creating a stronger collective voice for the development, rights, and well-being of Dalit communities.
Community-Level Consultations
GENVP conducted consultations at the grassroots level across several districts of Bihar, including Nalanda, Supaul, Saharsa, Begusarai, and Lakhisarai.
These meetings provided an opportunity for community members to openly discuss their aspirations, challenges, and ideas for the future. The consultations also helped identify people within the community who had the willingness, resources, experience, or skills to contribute to community development.
An important part of these discussions was introducing the idea of community philanthropy—encouraging people to recognize that even small contributions, when brought together, can create meaningful change.
District-Level Consultation
The initiative was also taken to the district level through a consultation organized in Patna with civil society organizations working on Dalit rights, empowerment, and development.
Around 45 CSOs from 15 districts of Bihar participated in the consultation. The meeting provided a space to share experiences, understand the concept of community philanthropy, discuss challenges, and learn from different approaches to community-led development.
A Major Milestone
One of the most important achievements of this initiative was the establishment and inauguration of the Dalit Community Foundation on 28 November 2018.
The foundation was inaugurated in the presence of Shri Md. Haroon Rashid, Acting Chairman of the Bihar Legislative Council, and Shri Shyam Rajak, Former Minister of Bihar, along with Ms. Jenny Hodgson, CEO of GFCF; Ms. Rita Thapa, Chairperson of GFCF, Nepal; and Ms. Puja Marwah, CRY India.
Creating Change From Within
The Dalit Community Foundation represents more than an institution—it represents the belief that communities can come together, contribute their own resources, support one another, and take responsibility for their collective future.
Through this initiative, GENVP continues to promote solidarity, participation, leadership, and community ownership, helping create stronger and more self-reliant Dalit communities across Bihar.