Bigsna Gill currently leads project development and implementation in North India at the Sustain PlusEnergy Foundation. Sustain Plus is a pan-India platform that integrates DRE solutions into rural livelihood value chains to address challenges around energy access and efficiency, with the objective of improving productivity outcomes and incomes in rural communities. She manages partnerships and program design; oversees project management and implementation. Bigsna’s 13-year career trajectory has been diverse and multi-disciplinary, spanning across banking and communication sectors, before setting roots in the development sector. Before Sustain Plus, Bigsna led a research team at TERI and worked on research, policy analysis, and project implementation within the energy, environment and sustainable development realm.
She blogs at “Bookish” Brain Curry, tweets at Bigsna on Twitter and you can find her reading life at Goodreads.
How has your journey been from IIFM to the Sustain Plus Energy Foundation?
It’s been an interesting and varied journey from IIFM to my current role – and one that has added a lot of learning, experience, and value to my current skill set. I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I started my career from IIFM at ICICI Bank, in the rural micro-banking sector, working on loan products and MIS database management for the bank’s rural business. After spending nearly 3 years there, I realised that this was not the profile or industry for me and that I needed to work on something more creatively oriented, essentially related to my love for reading and writing.
While I had some idea about the direction I wanted to take, it took some time to actually find the role that suited my skills and interest (reading, research, management) and also matched the foundation that I had developed at IIFM, bringing me into the mainstream social/development sector.
In the interim, I worked in roles that honed my project management, communication, research, and writing skills and when I was in between jobs, I discovered other interests such as photography, which became a big part of who I was.
With TERI, I started my journey in the development sector and discovered my interest in and aptitude for academic and development research and project development. I’ve been in the sector for the past 7 years now and I find this to be the most appropriate career fit for me. At Sustain Plus, I have the opportunity to use my experience and skills to develop meaningful projects that have a direct impact on under-served communities in India. Overall, it has been a very rewarding and enriching journey so far.
What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
I would say taking the daunting but necessary decision of leaving the banking sector was the first major milestone that really allowed me to change course and explore other possible avenues.
I would say taking the daunting but necessary decision of leaving the banking sector was the first major milestone that really allowed me to change course and explore other possible avenues.
It took me on a circuitous path of ‘professional self-discovery’ and also taught me not to get too nervous about the changing profiles on my CV. Every job and experience brought growth at so many varying levels, the value of which became evident to me as I moved forward from one role to the next.
Managing a writing start-up was another major milestone that not only taught me a lot about structured thinking, writing and communication, but also about managing a shoe-string budget business, client management, and being completely hands-on with the operational side of things.
I think my biggest learning has been that there is no “ideal” path to finding the right fit role or even a well paying one at that. Just keep your eye on the ball and move ahead, take a few leaps of faith with whatever best options make themselves available at the time, and eventually, things work out, almost nearly for the best 🙂
What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
My current role really gives me the room and resources to ideate and design meaningful projects that have a visible impact on the ground. It is a great opportunity to actually build solutions that translate the “sustainability” concept into demonstrable action.
Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
Yes. IIFM in its totality gave me an environment to develop my interpersonal skills, and the much-needed exposure to the non-corporate side of things, which wasn’t mainstream at the time. I also found the academic curriculum well balanced across management, forestry, and development aspects.
Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
Friends and family have both been major drivers in my career progression, always encouraging me to follow my instincts and interests rather than get bogged down by the usual job profile pressure. My own “job radar” (for lack of a better word) seems to be working fine so far :), and has helped me figure out when it was time to move on from a particular role or organization.
To freshers and IIFM graduates, I would say that – if you are clear with what you want to do and where you want to work, that’s great, go for it. But those who are still figuring it out, I would say, don’t be scared to experiment or diversify, all experience adds value and you will figure it out eventually.
What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
The daily volleyball matches, morning tea at the mess, making litti chokha with the junior batch well past midnight, the general camaraderie and fun within the batch, our field trip to Sikkim.
In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni.. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
I think it was the friends I made that has really shaped and continues to shape me as an individual and professional. Even though we were a small batch of 40 students, it was a really diverse group. As a batch, we still very much exist as a closely-knit community, which in itself is one of my most important support groups
The best buddies/seniors/faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
Well, there are endless tidbits, but the nicest thing about IIFM has been the continued friendships across our batch and as well as with immediate seniors and juniors, and the continued association with most of our professors. Our bonds have only grown stronger, beyond those best buddy groups that existed in college and that’s something I really value.
I think the whole ecosystem of IIFM, with the juniors/seniors/faculty/campus/dogs, contributes to this feeling of being part of a larger family.
As an alumna, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get the best out of the 2 years there?
Most freshers I’ve interacted with over the years tend to worry about placements too early on, much before they even understand the kind of sectors, roles or opportunities that now exist for an IIFMite.
Most freshers I’ve interacted with over the years tend to worry about placements too early on, much before they even understand the kind of sectors, roles or opportunities that now exist for an IIFMite.
There is an appropriate time to start worrying about those of course, but in the meantime, I would tell them to concentrate on their curriculum, focus on making good grades, participate in as many extracurricular activities as possible (esp. sports) and generally keep an inquisitive mindset and enjoy the IIFM ecosystem so to speak.
What is your typical day at the office? (We want to know what your day job looks like..)
My day job is a combination of in-office and travel days. A typical day at the office is quite structured, with the usual set of meetings and teamwork. As my main job is to design interventions to address energy needs in specific contexts in the rural sector, most meetings and teamwork entail: ideation, conceptualization, program design, financial analyses, business model development, operations planning, enabling collaborations between local actors and solution providers, liaisoning with government stakeholders, building new partnerships, presentations to our board for approval, etc.
I don’t have very long days, for which I am eternally thankful 🙂 and “work-life balance” has been a blessing so far.
Travel mostly involves field visits to rural and remote areas across the northern states of India (Leh to Bihar), to identify problem areas and assess potential project opportunities, meet with local stakeholders and to plan and design interventions. At least a week of travel is likely every month, sometimes more.
And how about weekends.. Hobbies.. Family..
My weekends are literally to cut off from all things work and to unwind with friends, or catch up on things I otherwise don’t find the time to do. I also use this time to organize myself on all domestic chores for the coming week. Depending on how busy a workweek has been, I might just stay in all weekend to read, clean, watch a series online, and generally relax.
Favorite Books, movies, authors, ..
Some all-time favorite books that I’m always recommending – The Blood Telegram, And the Mountains Echoed, The Kitchen House, Dark Circles, Oscar Wilde, The Liberation of Sita, Big Magic, Pachinko, Beartown, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Power of Habit, Spark, Unravelling Oliver… etc
Podcasts have been a constant companion – BBC, Gimlet, NPR, WNYC have some amazingly researched and produced content.
IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
I’m happy to have interactions with students who want to orient themselves more about the sector I work in. Would also help with placements if/whenever possible.
What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
I think curriculums have changed significantly, they have become more tailored to industry, which I think is positive. In my opinion, the batch sizes are too large now than they were in our time, which makes it challenging not only to bring in students but also to provide consistent placements for everyone.
Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
Abhishek Kar, Sudeep Rathee, Trayee Banerjee, Satyajit, Kumar Abhishek