Big Brothers Big Sisters Launches Pilot Workplace Mentoring Program

San Francisco-based professional Vikram “Vik” Uppal is the co-founder of Aid India, a charitable foundation that works to provide food, shelter, medical aid, and other basic necessities to Indian families. Vikram Uppal also contributes to philanthropic initiatives closer to home, serving as a volunteer for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is perhaps best known for its community-based mentoring program, which matches screened volunteers with children in need of positive adult role models. The support and guidance Bigs provide their Littles through even the simplest activities helps empower youth to succeed in areas of life ranging from school to personal relationships.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area (BBBSBA) also operates an additional program aimed at preparing young adults for successful careers. The nonprofit is currently in the second year of its pilot workplace mentoring partnership with GAP, which pairs teenaged Littles with Bigs employed at the clothing retailer.

Meeting twice each month over the course of a year, the pairs explore an extensive curriculum spanning job and life skills such as business etiquette, community engagement, college prep, career exploration, and more. Each day of the program is developed by a BBBSBA Workplace Mentoring Coordinator and is designed to help youth not only develop critical career skills but also begin to plan their futures. The Workplace Mentoring Program has been largely successful, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area has even amassed a waiting list of teens eager to take part in the program.

Vik Uppal

Corporate Giving Law Greatly Benefits India's Nonprofit Sector

Since 2002, Vikram “Vik” Uppal has spearheaded the humanitarian efforts of the Aid India Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the basic needs of underserved Indian communities. As co-founder of the San Francisco-based nonprofit, Vikram Uppal is instrumental in organizing events and seeking out effective partnerships that provide food, housing, medicine, and other goods to those in need.

In April 2014, India became the first country to require corporations to make charitable contributions. A new addition to the country’s body of company law required all companies reporting annual revenues in excess of 10 billion rupees (approximately 150 US dollars) to donate a portion of it to charity. Under the law, businesses can choose to support initiatives in the areas of education, hunger, poverty, or gender equality, but must contribute at least 2 percent of their net profit to the selected cause.

India’s groundbreaking legislative change greatly increased annual charitable spending from the corporate sector. Independent sources report that collective private-sector donations skyrocketed from approximately 33.67 billion rupees in 2013 to some 250 billion rupees after the law went into effect. Experts also note that the new law has brought corporate responsibility to the forefront of corporate operations, as companies now have a legal obligation to create effective corporate social responsibility strategies.

However, some fear that the law does not go far enough in ensuring corporate social responsibility. According to a survey by accounting agency KPMG, 52 of India’s 100 largest companies did not direct 2 percent of their profits to a charitable cause.