India Inclusion Summit

India Inclusion Summit
Founded	2012
Founder	Ferose VR
Purpose	Disability Awareness
Headquarters	Bengaluru,India
Website	India Inclusion Summit

The India Inclusion Summit (IIS) is the earliest of the initiatives started by the India Inclusion Foundation. The first IIS was held on 3 December 2012 in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). Beginning as a community-driven platform to create awareness about disability, it blossomed into an annual, entirely volunteer-driven extravaganza held every November in Bengaluru. The spirit of IIS is captured in its catchphrase “Everyone is Good at Something” and in its credo “No egos, no logos.” Its founder V.R. Ferose, speaking about the Inclusive India Dream at IIS 2014, described IIS as “an event that is built, owned, executed, driven by the community.” IIS brings together thought leaders and unsung heroes from the field of disability and inclusion to deliberate, discuss, and drive change in our society. It has grown into a movement involving corporate and government entities, NGOs, schools, and volunteers. More than 10,000 people have physically attended the event which has an online viewership of over 15 million. All sessions are fully accessible and FREE for its participants

Origin

V.R. Ferose, Senior Vice President SAP and Head of the SAP Engineering Academy, conceived IIS at a turning point in his life. When his son Vivaan was diagnosed with autism at 18 months, he fell into depression. It was his mentor, the Magsaysay award winner Kiran Bedi, who enabled him to find his purpose, telling him, “You are lucky; the purpose found you.” He realized that if, instead of trying to change Vivaan, he endeavored (in his wife Deepali’s words) to “change the world for Vivaan”, it could change the lives of countless other people with disabilities. Veteran journalist and author Arun Shourie, the father of a disabled son, was another inspirational figure. Shourie suggested that Ferose strive to change society’s mindset about disability, and this sparked off the idea of an event that celebrates differences – an idea that would culminate in the India Inclusion Summit.

Mission

To make India inclusive in alignment with the 2030 agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with the following goals: • Create awareness on the need for disability inclusion in mainstream society • Provide a platform for unsung heroes • Support projects that lead to education, employment, and livelihoods for persons with disabilities (PWD) • Partner with corporates to support people with disabilities and drive inclusivity • Share innovations and success stories about PWD • Catalyse the journey of young entrepreneurs and artists who are in the disability space.