QI Group: Leading With Integrity and Impactful Initiatives

By: Sumeet_Manhas

There are many different ways to lead, in both life and business. Some philosophies are more effective than others and often the “right” way to lead is also the hard way, or the expensive way. Perhaps that is why we see hope when a large, multinational conglomerate operates with the dignity of a socially conscious entity and not the brutal coldness of overt capitalism. QI Group, through its philanthropic efforts, global partnerships, and sustainability efforts, is that company.

Is the QI Group Credible?

Yes, the QI Group is credible. In addition to several thriving businesses in different sectors, the company has a variety of philanthropic endeavors it participates in. The most widely known (and arguably most impactful) has been its RYTHM Foundation.

The Raise Yourself To Help Mankind (RYTHM) Foundation is the primary social impact initiative of QI Group and its founders, Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark. The foundation “invests in the communities around us through strategic partnerships, community service, and employee volunteering.”

According to QI Group’s website, the foundation has aided over 80,000 people in 20 countries thus far, with over 114,000 volunteer hours buttressing those efforts. The RYTHM Foundation has undertaken no fewer than 75 community development projects and has worked with over 135 partners globally. It is no small operation.

QI Group focuses its charitable efforts in three primary areas: education, empowerment, and the environment. It also strives to meet the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It reports making “considerable strides” in seven of them: ensuring education for all; gender equality; safeguarding clean water and sanitation; providing access to affordable and clean energy; promoting decent work and economic growth; helping reduce inequalities; and strengthening partnerships toward the goals.

QI Group’s Educational Initiatives Include Support for Students With Special Needs

While QI Group has multiple education initiatives, its establishment of the Taarana School, a special needs educational facility in Selangor, Malaysia, demands note.

Many children who are neurodivergent are often left behind by a system that is not designed to cater to them or their needs.

The Taarana School provides programs that offer social and emotional support for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome and other conditions. The programs allow children to learn in an environment that is both understanding of their needs and equipped to properly handle them.

QI Group’s Empowerment Efforts Help Women, Rural Communities

QI Group’s empowerment and community development programs center around empowering women and assisting underserved populations, such as those in rural areas.

A prime example of this is RYTHM’s development of the Maharani School Programme. The motto of the programme is “educate a girl, change the world.” The goal of the organization is to provide a holistic training programme that empowers girls to achieve their full potential and contribute to the well-being of their community as agents of change. The Education Ministry-endorsed programme prioritizes teens from the bottom 40% of income earners.

While this is admirable on its own, the ripple effect of those efforts can be massive. There is strong statistical evidence that women in positions of leadership lead to better social and economic outcomes.

In the United States, those states that had female governors saw lower COVID-19 death rates than those governed by men. In addition, institutions led by women tend to have better financial performance, but women hold only 2% of all CEO positions at financial institutions, according to International Monetary Fund research reported by the World Economic Forum.

Eric LeCompte, a U.N. adviser and executive director of a nonprofit that advocates for debt relief, told the World Economic Forum that working with U.S. Commerce Secretary Janet Yellen, for example, was a revelation.

"I've been meeting with treasury secretaries for 20 years, and their talking points have been entirely different," he said. "In every area we discussed, Yellen put an emphasis on empathy, and the impact of policies on vulnerable communities."

He said her male predecessors had a "brass tacks" approach that focused first on "numbers, not people" and never mentioned words like "vulnerable."

QI Group’s Environmental Programs Offered Through RYTHM

The third area for QI Group’s philanthropic efforts, again via RYTHM, is around environmental sustainability, a passion for both the company and its founders.

Using local partnerships, RYTHM has multiple initiatives in progress. The foundation is working on increasing energy access in the Himalayas with GHE, the Global Himalayan Expedition, allowing remote communities in Meghalaya, a state in northeast India, to have access to medical equipment and other health care-related devices that require electricity, something the community did not have access to prior to RYTHM and GHE’s involvement.

RYTHM also works with LEADS Sri Lanka on a sustainable community project in Sri Lanka that looks to help rebuild a low-income community that was ravaged by the country’s civil war.
The collaboration between RYTHM, LEADS Sri Lanka, and Habitat for Humanity involves providing much-needed jobs and helping survivors restore their lives through an eco-friendly brick factory erected in the village. The facility is located in the Mullaitivu district, where more than 70% of villagers live in poverty.

In addition to making financial contributions to philanthropic efforts, QI Group, via RYTHM, also adds man-hours through volunteering opportunities. And that might be the “secret sauce,” as it were. While many companies can write a check and create a marketing document around it, QI Group and its employees are living the values they espouse. The involvement becomes more personal, the results more impactful and the efforts more sustainable when people get personally involved.

While not every company can emulate the work that QI Group has done, QI Group has clearly shown that “good business” and good business can coincide, that corporate citizens can be more than piggy banks and that, given the opportunity, most people want to help where they can. Maybe more companies will see what QI Group sees and the world will be better for it. Maybe.

By Sumeet Manhas

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