Rajan Samuel has over 30 years of experience in microfinance, housing microfinance, and social development. He has held various roles in the past in independent consulting and senior-level positions with Opportunity International, World Bank, Khula Finance, DFID, IFAD, CARE, World Vision, DANIDA, and others.

Having worked in over 25 countries in Asia, Central Asia, Africa, and the Caucasus, Rajan has been instrumental in establishing 15 independent Microfinance institutions in 10 countries including rural banks, cooperatives, and Credit Unions and Non-Banking Finance Companies. Before joining Habitat for Humanity India, he was the Housing Finance Manager with Habitat’s Asia-Pacific office. He holds a degree in commerce and administration.

As the Managing Director of Habitat for Humanity India, Rajan spearheads Habitat’s vision to build a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Through his leadership, Habitat India inspires partners in government, the private sector, and civil society to volunteer, donate, invest and advocate for decent, affordable housing, for access to clean water and for better hygiene and sanitation practices.

Rajan has been instrumental in establishing a Sensitise to Sanitise Coalition with an aim to eliminate open defecation. Through Rajan’s able leadership, Habitat for Humanity India serves as a voice for people in need of decent housing.

In this interview with Deepak Nanda from CSRBOX, he talks about the following points:

1. How is Habitat for Humanity working towards this vision of building a world where everyone has a decent place to live?

2. How do you engage families, volunteers, donors, and supporters to come together to work on your projects?

3. Habitat for Humanity works closely with all sectors — community, public, private and civic- What is the role that each of them play in your programs and how do you leverage partnerships to expand your reach?

4. How would you say, Habitat for humanity has evolved since its inception in 1983? Be it in terms of focus areas, engagement, or work?

5. What are some of the recent interventions that you have launched and which areas do you plan to work in the future?

6. What would be your suggestion to organizations working in this domain, specifically NGOs and social enterprises?

Impact-Talk is a series of views and interviews of CSR heads, impact leaders and change-makers, addressing development challenges in India. If you have an impact-maker in your network, please suggest/share details at csr@ngobox.org