Y-East is a catalyst platform whose purpose is to contribute to the advent of a society that cares about social / environmental impact (scope: SDGs) by bridging gaps between corporations, NGOs, social enterprises, investors, governments, students, citizens. Its geographical focus is East / North-East India. Concretely, Y-East is an online platform which provides information online and ultimately create offline opportunities to collaborate. It is progressively becoming the reference hub for all actors and information regarding social and environmental issues: all professionally involved organisations, events happening around, impact-focused volunteering/internship/job opportunities, inspiration to be found about existing organisational and individual changemakers...

Y-East is fundamentally a multistakeholder, multi-initiatives catalyser. The implementation approach is twofold: - Background, long-term work which consists in engaging partners in the long run as members on the online platform and for large scale opportunities, programmes, events to regularly roll out all together. Within a few months, Y-East also plans to develop its capacity and offer advisory and consulting services to its organisational members (NGOs, CSR departments of corporations, social startups, public entities etc) in the lines of the SGDs and sustainability. - More visible, regular, operational events, workshops, seminars... to keep raising awareness and change mindset through accumulative action. For example, since November, Y-East has already curated a big warm clothes distribution drive across the city, a design thinking-based social innovation challenge with students, the World's Largest Lesson in Techno India School, a Plogging Run, a conference about mental health.

Y-East is a recent, independent initiative which stems from Techno India Group, the largest educational conglomerate in India (70,000 students from pre-school to university levels). Legally, Y-East is a Section 8 Company (Non-for-profit company under India's 2013 Company Act). Techno India Group's Sustainability Director is also Y-East's founder and CEO. Y-East team encompasses 3 core, dedicated team members: founder/CEO Pauline Laravoire, Business Development and Partnership Manager Navya Shivaprakash, Chief Evengelist Meghdut Roy Chowdhury. It also benefits from a small board of advisors (to grow soon), including Ajay Mittal as Strategic Advisor and Dheeman Ghosh as Sustainability Consultant. As Y-East is an initiative from Techno India Group, it also benefits from resources that are already in place there: IT development team (company Infosolz - 2 staff are dedicated to Y-East website), Digital content team (another 2 staff), Project management team (another 3 staff) for specific programmes or events. Y-East is developing some of its activities towards Techno India students, and is mobilising them through Y-East faculty and student conveners that have voluntarily accepted related responsibilities.

Name of the platform/initiative: Y-East Initiative of: Techno India Group Housed in: Offbeat CCU Current partners (currently multiplying): Earth Day Network, AIESEC, Kolkata Clean Air, Technopreneurs, Terra Indica, AQWA, Vital Waste, The SASI Co., Responsible Charity, Calcutta Rescue, SmallChange