NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

A  Master in Economics from Yale Uni, Priya Naik had already worked with two social startups before she founded Samhita Social Venutres. Since a very young age, Priya has been doing what people only think about doing in their lifetime. Founder and CEO, Priya has been working extensively in the areas of nature conservation, art, education for differently-abled children, and livelihood generation through micro enterprise.

The “Samhita ecosystem” provides a credible platform and thought leadership to enable NGOs, companies, donor agencies, individuals, philanthropists, foundations and researchers to achieve their specific goals and make informed decisions that translate into purposeful action and large-scale social impact. They connect NGOs and provide them a platform to address social issues as well as reach out to bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) market. This makes Priya not only an inspiration for being a woman in business, but she’s a woman in business with heart. She thinks like an economist and has a giving soul. When she progresses, she wants the world to move ahead with her. We had a chance to converse with Priya and know more about her. Here’s what we found.

On being a woman entrepreneur

I think it’s the ability to create and create constantly. Being a social entrepreneur is also slightly different from other kinds of entrepreneurs because you’re also contributing to direct social impact and you get to see tangible change, which is one of the best parts of my job.