In a country where health inequities, income disparities, and gender gaps continue to challenge sustainable development, the need for integrated, community-led solutions has never been greater. Responding to this need, Omega Healthcare launched the Omega Forum for Social Impact—OFSI—in November 2023, marking a pivotal shift in its approach to social responsibility.
At the helm of this transformation is Ms. Sunanda Rangarajan, CEO, Omega Forum for Social Impact, and a passionate advocate for women’s empowerment and inclusive development. Under her leadership, OFSI is reimagining the role of corporate social responsibility—not as a box to check, but as a catalyst for systemic change. Anchored in South India and steadily expanding its footprint, OFSI has embraced a collaborative, community-first model under her leadership—one that moves beyond transactional giving and compliance to build long-term, trust-based partnerships by co-creating solutions with local partners and residents across underserved regions.
With initiatives spanning healthcare access, skills training, women-led microcredit systems, and even mental health interventions, OFSI exemplifies how organizations can evolve from traditional CSR to deeply rooted, locally owned, and sustainable social impact. In this exclusive conversation with TheCSRUniverse, Ms. Rangarajan shares OFSI’s vision for sustainable impact—where women lead, communities take ownership, and transformation is co-created and measured not just by numbers, but by the resilience and dignity restored in everyday lives across South India.
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Q&A
Q. To begin with, could you briefly introduce the Omega Forum for Social Impact (OFSI) and its core mission? What motivated its evolution from a CSR initiative to an independent platform for holistic development?
A. Omega Forum for Social Impact (OFSI) is Omega Healthcare's independent social impact arm. It was established to move beyond CSR compliance and deepen engagement with grassroots communities. While CSR marked the beginning of our journey, Omega Healthcare's leadership recognised the need for a more focused, responsive, and values-driven platform to enable responsible philanthropy.
OFSI's core mission is community transformation, with a focused commitment to healthcare, livelihood development and skilling. We partner closely with grassroots NGOs, co-creating solutions and building local capacity to ensure that impact is both sustainable and owned by the communities themselves. At the heart of our approach are women and girls, who we see not just as beneficiaries but as catalysts for change. We believe that when we invest in their health, skills and leadership, we unlock the potential of entire communities and create ripple effects that span generations.
Our evolution from a CSR function to a dedicated foundation reflects a shift in purpose: from obligation to ownership, from ticking boxes to transformational change. Today, OFSI operates not only as a funding body but also as an advisory and knowledge partner - and where required, as a delivery partner to the government - towards the socio-economic and emotional empowerment of communities in South India.
Q. OFSI adopts a collaborative and community-centric approach by co-creating programs with technical partners and local residents. How does this participatory model influence the success, relevance, and ownership of your interventions?
A. At OFSI, we firmly believe that sustainable impact begins when communities become active agents of their own development. Our collaborative, community-centric approach is rooted in the understanding that those closest to the challenges are also best placed to find solutions. By co-creating programmes with technical experts and local residents, especially women, we ensure that interventions are relevant, effective, and deeply grounded in lived experience.
When communities identify the issues they want addressed and co-design solutions with us, the accountability for success shifts from external stakeholders to the community itself. Ownership becomes internal, not imposed, greatly increasing the chances of sustained, meaningful impact. For example, in our North Chennai programme, a community-led model for skilling and livelihood development has enabled 79% of participating women to begin earning an income, with an average annual increase of Rs. 36,000. This reflects the deep impact of sustained, locally rooted interventions. Meanwhile, in Tharagambadi, our revolving microloan initiative has seen a 90% repayment rate - driven by a strong sense of ownership among participants and the adaptability of the model to community needs.
Consequently, OFSI and other partners act as facilitators and enablers, supporting the community’s vision rather than dictating solutions. This participatory process not only builds trust but also cultivates leadership, particularly among women, within the community. We have repeatedly seen that when women help build programmes aimed at their empowerment, the outcomes are more resilient and transformative.
Co-creation is not just a strategy at OFSI; it is central to our mission to foster long-term, locally driven change that truly reflects the needs and aspirations of the people we serve.
Q. OFSI addresses multiple themes such as healthcare, skilling, and livelihood support. Could you elaborate on these focus areas and share a specific example where this integrated approach has brought about meaningful change in a community?
A. At OFSI, we believe that true community transformation and poverty alleviation require a sustained and integrated approach that brings together healthcare, skilling, and livelihood development with women at the heart of the process.
A powerful example is our “Cradle to Career” programme in Tarangambadi, Tamil Nadu, a region still recovering from the 2004 tsunami. Since 2022, we have partnered with local communities to drive long-term, generational change - beginning with education at Hope School, extending into youth skilling such as spoken English, and enabling women through interest-free revolving microloans. These modest loans, ranging from Rs. 10,000 to 15,000, have enabled women to break free from exploitative lending cycles, expand their businesses, and pay it forward by supporting others in their community. Coupled with awareness sessions, leadership workshops, livelihood support, and financial literacy training, the impact has been significant: participating households have seen an average annual income increase of Rs. 42,000. Over 70% of women used the loans to grow existing enterprises, and more than 60% now actively save for their families’ well-being, signalling both financial empowerment and long-term resilience.
By integrating access to health, education, and economic opportunity, and placing women’s leadership at the centre, the Cradle to Career model has emerged as a blueprint for holistic and lasting change. What began as a pilot in Tharagambadi has now evolved into the Omega Centre for Excellence - a thriving example of community transformation that we aim to scale to new regions over the next three to five years.
Q. The organisation has placed a strong emphasis on empowering women through interest-free microcredit and federation models. What kind of social and financial outcomes have you observed from these interventions?
A. OFSI places a strong emphasis on empowering women through interest-free microcredit and community-based federation models. By removing the burden of high interest rates, these initiatives enable rural and tribal women to confidently access loans, build small enterprises, and move towards lasting financial independence.
A powerful example is our partnership with ASSCOD, through which tribal women across multiple blocks in Chengalpattu have come together to form the Wings to Fly Trust; a federation they now lead and manage. This collective has given women access to loans, social security benefits, and other essential services. What makes it truly transformative is that the women themselves oversee the trust’s operations, motivate peers to join, and explore new funding avenues for sustainability. As a result, participating families have seen an average income rise of Rs. 20,000 per year, with household savings increasing by 50%. The majority of loans are used to support income-generating activities.
Similarly, in Bidar, Karnataka, our collaboration with The/Nudge Institute has resulted in a 95% increase in household engagement in livelihoods, a 41% rise in average income, and a dramatic growth in household savings from 50% to 99%. Women now manage annual savings of up to Rs. 60,000 and access diverse livelihood opportunities such as goat rearing, poultry farming, tailoring, and petty shops.
Beyond financial outcomes, these interventions have strengthened women’s confidence, improved their decision-making capacity, and reduced their vulnerability to exploitative systems and gender-based violence. Women are taking on leadership roles, building peer support networks, and actively participating in community governance. Their enhanced control over education, health, and family choices has led to better school retention, especially for girls, and increased access to social protection schemes. These shifts have laid a strong foundation for resilient, self-reliant communities anchored in women’s agency and collective strength.
Q. As OFSI expands into mental and social-emotional well-being, how are you addressing the often invisible burden of mental health in underserved communities?
A. At OFSI, we recognise that mental health challenges in underserved communities are often invisible. This is not because they do not exist, but because stigma, lack of awareness, and gaps in access keep these issues hidden and unaddressed. Our work focuses on making these burdens visible and tackling them through trust-based, community-led approaches.
Central to this is building local capacity by training women from within the community as barefoot counsellors. These women undergo a rigorous three-month training to provide psychosocial support, identify signs of emotional distress, and connect individuals to appropriate resources. Trusted members of their communities, they help reduce stigma and encourage people to seek help. For example, 105 mental health volunteers have been trained through a 12-day residential programme, and 34 of them have received more intensive training focused on mental health care and psychosocial support. As a result, over 9,000 community members and more than 3,000 students have been reached through awareness events and community-based mental health programmes. This model has shown strong results in Madhurantakam, where it was first implemented, and is now expanding to new areas including Kalvarayan Hills and Theni; strengthening early intervention efforts and building community resilience around mental well-being.
Alongside this, we have established Happiness Clubs; safe, supportive spaces where community members can reflect, share, and care for each other. We also engage children in schools through All Is Well Clubs, increasing awareness of mental health from a young age.
Together, these initiatives increase understanding of both simple and complex mental health issues, embed emotional well-being into daily life, and create lasting social support systems. Through rigorous training, community trust, and safe spaces, our mental health work is creating meaningful change in vulnerable communities.
Q. Collaboration seems central to your organisation's work—with both implementation and technical partners. How do these partnerships, combined with the use of technology, help you ensure that programs remain agile, scalable, and locally relevant? Can you give some examples of successful partnerships?
A. At OFSI, we do not see ourselves as funders or grant-makers. We see ourselves as active stakeholders; walking alongside our partners and communities to co-create meaningful, long-term change. The moment we view the problem as “our” problem, and not just “their” problem, collaboration shifts from being transactional to transformational. This approach fosters deep alignment between NGOs, technical partners, and communities, forming a shared purpose that makes agility and scalability natural outcomes rather than goals to chase.
Our collaborative spirit is best reflected in partnerships such as those with the Arunodhaya Centre for Street and Working Children, the Association for Sustainable Community Development (ASSCOD), and the Hope Foundation. With each, we began with modest, focused interventions. For instance, a small women’s awareness program in North Chennai with Arunodhaya has organically evolved into a multi-faceted initiative that now reaches thousands of women with skilling, mental health, reproductive health, and leadership interventions.
Technology has further deepened our collaborations by enabling consistent monitoring, contextual data gathering, and responsive programme design. These digital tools help us remain grounded in community realities while expanding our reach and impact.
For example, we use our own dashboards internally to monitor programme delivery and track success metrics across the project cycle, allowing us to stay agile and outcome-focused. Externally, partners like DHAN Foundation, SWASTI, APD, and The/Nudge use technology to enhance collaboration and gather real-time, localised data. By embedding such tools into our processes, we ensure that activities are measured meaningfully and that the collective impact is both visible and verifiable.
Ultimately, this shared ownership and adaptability help our programmes remain relevant, community-centred, and rooted in long-term trust.
Q. What are some of the leadership or operational lessons you’ve learned while transitioning OFSI from a corporate-led CSR initiative to a standalone impact entity?
A. One of the most important lessons we learned while transitioning OFSI from a corporate-led CSR initiative to a standalone impact entity is the critical role of leadership commitment. At OFSI, we are fortunate to have a board and leadership team that are deeply invested in social responsibility; not just as a compliance requirement but as a core value. Their unwavering belief in the work we do has been a pillar of strength and a driving force behind our evolution.
This transition also taught us that meaningful social change cannot be achieved in isolation. As a leader of OFSI, I have come to understand that our growth is intrinsically tied to the growth of our partners, our communities, and everyone we work with. We cannot move the needle unless we move together. Collaboration is not just a value, it is a necessity.
Structurally, this also meant rethinking our internal systems. We had to shift from a compliance-driven approach to one that is purpose-led, revisiting everything from fund disbursal processes to impact measurement frameworks. This has enabled us to build more responsive, transparent, and trust-based models of working.
The journey has been both humbling and empowering, reinforcing our belief that impact work is not about giving - it’s about growing together.
Q. With your background in both nonprofit and corporate sectors, how do you measure long-term success in community-led development? What metrics or frameworks guide your approach?
A. While we have established systems in place - baseline and end-line assessments, midline reviews, quarterly reports, and defined metrics to monitor programmatic outcomes - we believe long-term success in community-led development goes beyond data points. With experience across both nonprofit and corporate sectors, I’ve come to understand that we must first redefine what “success” truly means in this context.
At OFSI, we believe that long-term success begins with inner transformation. When a woman who once hesitated to leave her home now leads meetings, runs her own business, and creates jobs for others, or when a community member who once felt invisible finds their voice and agency, these are the true markers of change. While metrics can capture numbers, it is these deeply personal shifts that reveal the real depth of impact. Every woman’s journey forward is not just her success story, but a triumph for her community and by extension, a shared success for all of us.
In community-led development, ownership is the foundation. When communities initiate solutions, when they adapt and sustain programmes without external prodding, that’s a success! Every story of confidence built, every instance of trust earned, and every decision taken independently by local leaders contributes to long-term development.
So while we rely on frameworks to maintain accountability and rigor, our most valuable indicators are the ones we hear in lived stories; from women, children, and families who have reimagined what is possible for themselves and their communities.
Q. In your view, how can India’s corporate healthcare sector play a more strategic role in bridging access gaps in rural and marginalized populations?
A. India’s corporate healthcare sector has the potential to play a highly strategic role in bridging healthcare access gaps in rural and marginalised communities and at OFSI, we firmly believe this is both possible and necessary.
The key lies in collaboration. When healthcare providers, NGOs, hospitals, government agencies, and corporate CSR arms work together, not in silos, we can collectively amplify our impact. This means co-designing solutions, leveraging existing public health infrastructure, and investing in innovations like telemedicine, mobile health units, and affordable diagnostics that are relevant to rural contexts.
At OFSI, we’ve partnered with organisations such as Swasti and the DHAN Foundation to implement community-owned healthcare models in Ramanathapuram and Salem. These programmes focus on screening for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), improving health literacy, and building long-term community capacity. By aligning with existing government initiatives and extending their reach, we help ensure that services are delivered where they’re needed most.
Ultimately, bridging the gap is not just about funding - it’s about showing up, listening deeply, and co-creating sustainable systems of care that are rooted in trust and equity.
Q. More broadly, do you see a shift in how companies approach CSR today—from one-off giving to deeper ecosystem-building? What would you like to see more of in India’s social impact landscape?
A. Yes, we are definitely seeing a shift in how companies approach CSR; from one-off giving to more strategic, long-term ecosystem-building. There is greater intent to stay invested in communities, build deeper relationships, and co-create meaningful impact. However, I believe we still have some way to go in terms of how CSR roles are imagined and implemented.
What can further strengthen CSR impact is deeper and sustained engagement with communities, spending time on the ground, understanding local realities, and nurturing trust-based relationships. When CSR moves beyond funding to become a true partner in development, the potential for meaningful and lasting change becomes even greater.
India has one of the most evolved social impact landscapes in the world. As the first country to mandate corporate social responsibility by law, it enables nearly 24,000 companies to collectively channel over INR 30,000 crores into social development each year. Yet the true potential lies not just in the amount spent, but in how these resources are used. If more corporate partners came together to co-fund meaningful initiatives, invest in underserved regions, and embrace trust-based philanthropy, the impact would be deeper, more inclusive, and truly transformative.
Ultimately, I would like to see the ecosystem operate with less hierarchy; where the lines between funders, implementers, and communities blur and we all come together as partners solving for change.
Q. What is OFSI’s vision and roadmap for the next 3 to 5 years in terms of scaling impact, expanding programs, and addressing emerging challenges in healthcare and socio-economic development?
A. Since our launch in 2023, OFSI has already worked with over 100,000 individuals across health, education, and livelihoods. In the coming year alone, we aim to reach at least 150,000 individuals; deepening our presence in existing geographies and expanding to aspirational districts where the need is high but access remains low.
Over the next 3 to 5 years, our vision is to build robust, long-term programs that don’t just deliver services, but strengthen community systems and enable self-reliance. We want to play a key role in shaping resilient, empowered communities through integrated models that combine healthcare, skilling, education, and social protection.
We also see ourselves evolving into thought leaders in the space. The launch of our Research and Advocacy vertical will enable us to generate evidence, influence policy, and drive sector-wide learning. Additionally, our upcoming Fellowship program will bring in passionate individuals to co-create solutions at the grassroots. These efforts are designed to ensure that OFSI remains agile, grounded, and future-ready in the face of emerging socio-economic and healthcare challenges.
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