About Us

The Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CSIE) is an initiative of The Ignite Foundation focused on strengthening the social entrepreneurship ecosystem. Conceptualised as a Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Accelerator at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in 2024, the Centre is currently in its early stage of development.  CSIE brings together aspiring social entrepreneurs, practitioners, educators, researchers, and ecosystem stakeholders through education, research, innovation, and ecosystem development. The Centre currently hosts the Winter School on Social Entrepreneurship, the Design Thinking Fellowship for Social Change, and the Social Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, an online platform that curates learning resources and knowledge on social entrepreneurship.

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The Ignite Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Kerala, India, that equips young people to become active citizens and community problem solvers. We work with aspiring social leaders, non-profit founders, and social entrepreneurs in the early stages of their journey, helping them understand local challenges, develop practical solutions, and build initiatives that respond to social and environmental issues.

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Our flagship programme, the School for Social Transformation (SST), is a six-month experiential leadership programme that combines online learning, a ten-day residential immersion, mentorship, and changemaker incubation. Participants explore their own values and leadership, engage directly with communities, identify local challenges, and develop initiatives that they can implement with continued guidance and peer support.

Another vertical, the Centre for Youth Impact and Training, focuses on education for social change by promoting active citizenship, social responsibility, and youth participation through workshops and training programmes for schools, colleges, civil society organisations, and institutions.

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At the centre of this ecosystem is Changemakers Ashram, located in Kozhikode, Kerala. The Ashram serves as our residential learning and incubation space, where programmes, learning camps, and community collaborations take place. It is envisioned as a space for experimentation in grassroots innovation, enabling young people to work alongside communities, test ideas, and develop responses to local social and environmental challenges.

The Ignite Foundation works with individuals at the beginning of their leadership journey, before they establish organisations or social enterprises. Rather than providing long-term incubation for established ventures, we focus on helping emerging changemakers build the knowledge, confidence, networks, and practical experience needed to take the first steps towards creating lasting change in their communities.