Asia Initiatives is a pioneer NGO found in 1990 by Dr. Geeta Mehta with her husband Krishen Mehta, largely inspired and mentored by Prof. MS Swaminthanan and Dr. Eva Haller. It is a “Pro-poor, Pro-Women and Pro-Environment” organization that constantly innovate strategies that could help the severely underprivileged people in South Asia and in particular India.

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One such significant idea being ‘Social Capital Credits (SoCCs)’ -  a community currency for social good. This transformative concept is widely appreciated for making communities & individuals stakeholders in their own success. Essentially, SoCCs are community currency for social good which act as an agent of development without a sole reliance on money. The local community or community member can do ‘the good deeds’ to earn a predetermined number of SoCC credits. This credits can be redeemed to buy products or services that will help a person or a family to improve their quality of life, such as access to health care, education and skills training. Social Capital and how it activates the power embedded in our networks is revolutionary, ultimately influencing our well being, markets, processes, news, relationships and innovations. This concept is currently being used in pilot sites in India, Ghana, Kenya, and Costa Rica by Asia Initiatives.