Mandar Apte
We are pleased to share that former Shell GameChanger, Mandar Apte, has joined the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (S-CAR) at George Mason University as a Visiting Scholar and will be leading efforts to set up a “Business for Peace” Innovation Lab. Once launched, the lab will be investing in novel ideas that would create business and financial value while actively promoting peace, compassion and conflict resolution. This unique lab will be a positive counterpoint to the analogy that there is a similar “business of war” or “business of drugs”.
Mandar brings with him over 17 years of corporate experience working at Shell where he managed Shell's flagship GameChanger program on social innovation, focusing on investing in solutions to social challenges that would create shared value, blending business/financial gains and social impact. Mandar is also an acclaimed meditation teacher and has won the prestigious "Ashoka League of Intrapreneurs" award for his efforts to design and facilitate the EMPOWER program to nourish the innovation culture at Shell to over 2,000 colleagues using meditation techniques.
Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic trip to India in 1959 that he had taken to study the nonviolence teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Mandar started a social impact initiative called “From India With Love” to reinvigorate the nonviolence movement in the United States. To catalyze the conversation, he produced a documentary film that showcases the experience of a delegation of victims of violence from across the US, who travel to India in search of healing, solace and transformation.
“We are delighted to host Mandar as a Visiting Scholar and collaborate with him on this innovative work. By combining social impact with business acumen—and financial incentives—we have the opportunity to create positive change and explore the long standing social problems through a new lens,” said Kevin Avruch, Dean of S-CAR.
For more information or if you would like to be involved with Business for Peace innovation lab please reach out to Mandar Apte directly.