Delhi, India, April 2024 – LGT Venture Philanthropy Foundation (LGT VP) is delighted to announce entering a three-year grant agreement, which further extends the trusted partnership with The Antara Foundation (TAF). Through this collaboration, LGT VP will support the Antara Foundation’s five-year strategy to design and implement innovative solutions for maternal and child health, expand its footprint, and contribute to the global public health discourse.
TAF implements programs across nearly 5,700 villages in nine districts in Madhya Pradesh, India, focusing primarily on some of India’s most remote, marginalized communities. The core belief of TAF is that better maternal and child health depends on access to timely and quality care. TAF works with and through the government system, helping build the capacity of frontline health workers, using data to equip health workers to identify and manage risk early, and supporting the nearest facilities to provide quality, respectful care. TAF works directly to empower and mobilize communities to seek better health outcomes. By strengthening business thinking and data-driven decision-making of the health ecosystem at the last mile, TAF ensures that its solutions are designed to work at scale, are sustainable, and are simple to implement on the ground.
TAF derives its strength from its young, dynamic, and passionate team members on the ground, the majority of whom are women and people who come from across the country to work in challenging circumstances. They are supported by a strong leadership team, including the Founder-Director, Ashok Alexander, and CEO, Chandrika Bahadur. They bring decades of leadership, policy and implementation experience from the private sector, management consulting, public health, and policy.
With LGT VP’s support, TAF will invest in three critical functions within the organization – the integrated model, knowledge management function, and internal learning and capacity building. The integrated model is a one-of-a-kind solution that seeks to bring together the last-mile community and the formal public health systems to address critical barriers to better health outcomes. TAF’s expanded knowledge management function will invest in implementation-led policy research, contributing to the global public health conversation and expanding its learnings to other contexts. Finally, the organization will aim to strengthen its team's expertise and effectiveness, ensuring sustained growth and success in achieving impact at scale.
Neelima Karath, Investment Manager at LGT VP, says “As LGT VP, we are hopeful that the long-term partnership with The Antara Foundation will continue to result in durable systems shift in the geographies and communities that they work in. We are thrilled to be a part of their journey as they implement their long-term strategy of working with both, the health system and the communities. Partnering with The Antara Foundation through the last few years, has deepened our understanding on how LGT VP’s health strategy can be centered on justice, equity, and inclusion, while supporting at scale solutions.”
Chandrika Bahadur, CEO of The Antara Foundation echoes: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with LGT Venture Philanthropy. Their support over the last three years has been invaluable in helping TAF expand its footprint across Madhya Pradesh and build internal systems and capacity to achieve our end goal. We thank them for their strong partnership, which has strengthened us as an organization, allowing us to make a more significant difference in the lives of the mothers and children we serve.”
The Antara Foundation, founded in 2013, works to improve maternal and child health and nutrition (MCHN) outcomes in India. To achieve this, Antara Foundation works with governments through partnership with the Health and Women & Child Development departments to provide training to enable health workers to work collaboratively as well as leverage data to drive government decision making for better health outcomes. For more information, please visit https://antarafoundation.org.
LGT Venture Philanthropy (LGT VP) is an independent charitable foundation established in 2007 with partners in Switzerland, Sub-Saharan Africa, and India. The Foundation strives to improve the quality of life of people facing disadvantages, contribute to healthy ecosystems, and build resilient, inclusive, and prosperous communities. LGT VP focuses on strengthening the capabilities of locally rooted organizations that deliver effective, scalable solutions across health, education, and the environment contributing directly to the SDGs. For more information, please visit www.lgtvp.com.