(August 31, 2023) Akshita Bhanj Deo and her sister are the directors of the 200-year-old Belgadia Palace in Mayurbhanj. Together, they’re working to build sustainable tourism with social impact. Akshita is also the manager of Dasra, which launched GivingPi, Inda’s first invite-only family philanthropy network, which has raised $300 million and impacted over 100 million Indians, with members that include Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder, Zerodha and True Beacon, Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.
Born into the fading glory of India’s royals, among palaces falling to ruin, Princess Akshita Bhanj Deo sometimes compares her life to Downton Abbey. A descendant of the Bhanja Dynasty, her great grandfather is the late King Tribhuvan of Nepal. Raised in Kolkata, she studied at the prestigious La Martiniere for Girls and then at United World College of Southeast Asia Singapore. She was an athlete in school and college and a national-level equestrian, participating in dressage and jumping. After school, she went to college as a Davis scholar at Bard College in the US, where she studied Political Science and Human Rights with a concentration in Media in conflict areas. After college, she moved to New York City to hone her skills in communications, brand management and entrepreneurship while working at the International Rescue Committee.
Akshita Bhanj Deo, one of the directors of the 200-year-old Belgadia Palace in Mayurbhanj with her sister, Mrinalika.
Royal Call
Currently she is a TedX speaker and a manager at Dasra, Akshita is working to build a conversation around strategic philanthropy in India through GivingPi. In 2019, she moved full-time to Mayurbhanj, where she developed an interest in building social enterprises and refurbishing the historic Belgadia Palace on a startup model. “My sister Mrinalika and I restored our 18th century ancestral home (The Belgadia Palace) to have tourism be a catalyst for sustainable development in Odisha’s largest district Mayurbhanj,” she says, in an exclusive with Global Indian. The idea was to use the property as a platform to divert funds into the district’s small and medium-sized enterprises and attract investment, by serving as a point of local contact between non-profits, the media, and entrepreneurs. Raising funds from guests who visited the palace, the sisters started the Mayurbhanj Foundation to help the local community in terms of healthcare, education, arts and culture, livelihoods, and sports. They hope to positively impact at least 10,000 people by 2025.
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Partnering for Success
They have tie-ups with local communities to promote business and provide an alternative livelihood from eco-tourism by giving them access to market linkages with travellers. These include Project Chhauni (Arts), NGO Sangram (Livelihoods), Mayurbhanj Art Foundation (Arts and Culture), ORMAS Sabai grass SHGs (Livelihoods) and Thakurmunda Sports Academy (Sports). Since they opened in August 2019, they have had 1000 guests in 2.5 years and have conducted over 500 property tours on heritage conservation and heritage. With over 100 meet-and-greets with Dokra and Sabai Grass artists with ORMAS and 100 Mayurbhanj Chhau dance performances with their local NGO partner Project Chhauni, they have had three artist residencies, one international from an artist duo from New Zealand and one national with an emerging photographer from Bhatinda and a partnership with Frequencies Foundation and one with the BEADS Studio in Bhubaneshwar. They had two volunteer-led trips to empower the local community students with Living to Change and Youth for sustainability and one grant tie-up with the Mehrangarh Fort Museum and Trust supported by the Tata Trusts heritage conservation initiative. “We have also been actively supporting the local sports groups in Mayurbhanj and have tied up with NGO Sangram to support tribal youth. We run fundraising drives to deliver sports equipment and kits to the youth and hold workshops on conservation and livelihood capacity training since many live on the fringes of the Simlipal Elephant and Tiger Reserve and biosphere which witnessed the tragic forest fires this year,” Akshita adds.
Giving Back
Akshita manages Dasra, which launched GivingPi in July 2022, India’s first and exclusive family philanthropy network, an independent initiative under the aegis of Dasra and has managed to positively impact over 100 million Indians with the $300 million raised. GivingPi’s Founders Circle members include Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder, Zerodha and True Beacon, Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd., Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Sunny (Gurpreet) Singh, Founder, RoundGlass and Tara Singh Vachani, VP, Max India Ltd. “Public healthcare is a critical need in a developing district, especially in a state like Odisha which is so prone to natural disasters. So I worked for three years at the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence in various roles from communications to special projects and one of the verticals the institute was focussing on was healthcare,” Akshita adds.
Entrepreneurial Journey
Having dabbled with different activities, she admits that getting a set of skilled team members to bring to a hospitality venture and retaining them as a boutique heritage hotel which is family run is a challenge. “To find the entrepreneurial minds who are open to growth and change and can be community ambassadors in rural areas is challenging but we try to bring in speakers and external collaborators who can help us train, build and skill a new young India. Invest in the best team and earnest professionals – you cannot be everything, all at once, but the strength of a team is unstoppable,” she opines. When she is not working, she indulges in sports, fitness, and being part of artistic or creative talks and dialogues. “I love to travel and have just got back from Vietnam and Nepal and can safely say that Asia is exploding with hidden spots to discover.” Looking ahead, she hopes to scale the Mayurbhanj Foundation to be self-sustainable and have a corpus that can provide jobs and help skill tribal youth every year. This is in addition to main streaming tribal culture, art, and ambassadors to be part of the global narrative on Indian Craftsmanship.
Captain Zoya Agarwal with one of the passengers on board[/caption]
After graduating from Monash, he entered the family business and soon found himself managing a sizable workforce. This transition marked the most crucial phase of his transformation from a quiet and introverted persona to an outgoing and confident leader. “I realised that I needed to actively work on my communication skills. To become a proficient communicator and leader, I engaged in various training programs, sought out mentors, and actively practiced public speaking. Over time, I learned how to articulate my ideas, motivate teams, and guide them effectively,” Boggaram says.
