Thursday 15th November 2007, 17:49Sidharth My Hero
Four years ago Sidharth Misra was working in an administrative role in our St James office in St James as part of the Invest in Skills programme. Everyone who knows Sidharth knows him to be loyal, hardworking, earnest, focused and very caring.
However, here are some things you may not know about him;
• Sidharth was born in the Bihar region of India
• He came to the UK on Foreign Office Chevening Scholarship
• He studied to complete his Phd in Peace Studies at Hull University whilst he worked at A4e for three years.
• His fondest memories of the UK are joining the local cricket team and playing on a Sunday afternoon where he was known for his leg spin and fondness for afternoon tea and sandwiches.
Four years ago he contacted me and explained he was amazed at the way A4e delivered on its Improving Peoples Lives vision and he wanted to help in any way he could to grow and shape A4e in the future.
Over the next four years he doggedly pursued his dream that A4e could one day deliver our vision of Improving Peoples Lives in his home state of Bihar India. Anybody who knows me will know I need little encouragement to think outside the box and pursue wild dreams, but even I struggled in 2004 to see how A4e could export our vision to India.
Sidharth was resolute, he had his own mission and he was focused on achieving it.
I had regular updates from Sidharth, contacts, opportunities and introductions to potential partner organisations in India.
Sadly in 2006 Sidharth completed his Phd and returned to India. But he did not give up on his dream that A4e could play a role in Improving Peoples Lives in India. So he kept up the contacts and emails and phone calls. In the summer of 2007 Sidharth convinced Justine Zwerling to take some time out of her holiday in India to visit him and discuss the opportunity. Justine called me after the meeting and told me she was amazed at Sidharth’s passion and commitment and his absolute belief that one day A4e would establish itself in India.
Justine convinced me I should visit Sidharth and his networks and the visit was set for mid November. In September Sidharth identified a tender for A4e to bid against which was completed by Andy Bowie another amazing person in our business development team.
This week I have spent in Delhi with Sidharth and Drin the CEO of Eduquity our proposed partner for the project. Drin has spent the week helping me understand just how “Mind-boggling” the opportunities are for A4e here in India. We were told today we have been successful in our bid to deliver a pilot programme for 1500 graduates in the Bihar region. We have had several other meetings which will lead to additional business opportunities and give us the chance to Improve Peoples Lives in India (particularly Sidharth’s home state of Bihar).
So by now it should be obvious why Sidharth is my hero;
• He had a vision for Improving Peoples Lives
• He understood how he could expand our opportunity to transform peoples lives
• He shared his vision
• He would not take a polite no
• He stayed focused for four years and would not deviate from the path even when he left A4e and the UK to return to India
• He convinced his employer to allow him to pursue this dream and won over the hearts and minds of our partner organisation Eduquity
• He used every once of conviction and influence to get Justine to change her holiday plans
• He found an appropriate commercial tender
• He worked on the tender with and Andy and his team
• He set up meetings and networks to support our chance of winning
• He accompanied me all week and supported me in each meeting
And when we found out we had won the tender he said – “I am so proud that A4e will come to my state and start to Improve Peoples Lives. It is my dream come true.”
He finds it hard to accept any compliments and so I wanted to use this blog to say
“Thanks Sidharth for being amazing and pursuing your dream for the last four years. Thank you for giving A4e the chance to work in India with Eduquity and to deliver a project that will transform the lives of so many people.”
There are so many heroes in A4e who I am proud to work alongside, but I hope today you will allow me to sing the praises of Sidharth a real entrepreneur.
Thanks Roy
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