Every inspiration has a story behind it and in 2022 we were inspired many times over. We listened, we drew lessons and we took the time to tell the world about what had moved us.

We took time to share – why one woman’s life meant so much to millions of others like her; why one student’s experience could inspire thousands in their path; what one sportsperson had achieved through grit, determination and the passion to excel; where one community had come together, stronger in their resolve to take on challenges.

For us, at Reliance, each of these were not just stories – they were moments in time, where we were convinced more than ever of how individuals and communities could motive those around them. What we can do, is provide an enabling environment, relevant skills, access to technology, a little facilitation, easier connect to entitlements. This is where Reliance Foundation steps in with strategies, identifying the crucial gaps, identify where and how this change can be triggered to catalyse, create and generate pathways towards progress, for maximum benefit to society.

There is also a story in the numbers – a story of how concepts, programmes and teams have come together to deliver for various development concerns. Over 64 million people across India, reached till date, across 53,000 locations – villages, towns and cities. Our scale and scope continue to increase as we continue to draw inspiration from inside, from our Founder’s vision, from across the Reliance fabric, from untiring commitment of teams and from outside from our communities, partners and the nation’s priorities.

In the spotlight through 2022, were Sports and Education initiatives – with landmark moments, initiatives and impact through 2022.

India gears up to host the IOC Session in 2023, after three decades, while our partnerships for athletics and football, ensured that we are strengthening the sporting ecosystem overall, taking steps forward in our mission to place India on the global sports map, emphatically, through the comprehensive Sports for Development programme, from the grassroots to the global arena.

With multiple awards for its innovative efforts under its belt, Reliance Foundation’s Education initiatives expanded scope in addition to schools, spanning from early childhood to higher education. An ambitious agenda to build capacity and a holistic environment for children to learn and grow through their formative years is in place. Nurturing youth to pursue their dreams the expanded Reliance Foundation Scholarships commitment – over 50,000 in the next 10 years – provides access to dynamic cohorts and global expertise and while Jio Institute welcomed its founding batch of students this year opening up world-class education in India.

Women spoke – loud, clear and through international and national dialogues that explored pathways to further progress. SDG5 on gender equality, could in fact hold the key to several of the Sustainable Development Goals as experts emphasised in the week of the UN General Assembly in New York and in the little bylanes across remote rural India, where the change was actually being triggered. With new projects and initiatives such as the first WomenLead India Fellowship and the second round of the WomenConnect Challenge India, our work on Women Empowerment received a significant boost.

Taking a lead in stepping up, the Disaster Management team of Reliance Foundation, was there to respond to the nation’s needs. Providing crucial support during the need-based approach for COVID-19 across India, the team engaged through 2022, in multi-pronged response across several natural disaster events and focused on resilience-building for communities to better prepare and manage for the future.

In the dialogues and national agenda-setting, smallholder farmers found their place in the spotlight and held their own from discussions on Farmer Producer Organisations and how they could build a spirit of optimism for the nation, to the agenda setting for rural women. Our Rural Transformation theme set an ambitious agenda, from accelerating women’s entrepreneurship, to finding impactful ways to build climate resilience and integrating technology for better lives and livelihoods of rural communities, building on over 12 years of on-ground experiences and evidence for inclusive pathways.

Health was centre-stage in the backdrop of COVID-19, with emphasis on prevention, specialised healthcare and vaccination. Building on our strength and vision to provide world-class healthcare in India, we also stepped up to support the support the national vaccination programme with over 40 lakh+ free COVID-19 vaccinations across India. Our targeted initiative for eye care in India, Reliance Foundation Drishti – has now completed over 20,000 free corneal transplants and continues to engage in preventive and supportive care for the vision of most-at-need communities.

The year ahead has a lot in store – as Art and Culture takes the spotlight in addition to sports, with the inaugural events of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre seeking to provide impetus to Indian art and culture on the global stage along with focusing on traditional arts and crafts of India.

The year 2023 is a time for us to step up on all the momentum built up to 2022.

There is also the ambition spelt out in the AGM and Founder’s Day speeches by the leadership. The path is long and there is much work to do; but at Reliance we believe in making the impossible possible. On the development agenda too, we do believe, that with innovation, earnestness and guided by our philosophy of ‘We Care’, greatest transformations are possible and we will deliver an ambitious agenda towards supporting India to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.