In his final year as president of the history honors department at Delhi University, after moving to the capital in 2004 when his father joined the university, Maninder Singh organized a departmental trip to Bhopal, centered on exploring the prehistoric Bhimbetka rock shelters, a treasure trove for history students. What began as a routine educational outing took an unexpected turn with an unplanned visit to Eklavya Foundation, the pioneering NGO established in the 1980s that played a pivotal role in shaping modern NCERT curricula and cultivating scientific temperament across Indian society.
This experience ignited his passion for social impact, leading him years later to found Jobshob Nest, his current organization building careers for changemakers.
This encounter proved transformative: “After that one portion of my heart I left there that this is a kind of work which I want to do,” he recalls with enduring clarity. Captivated, Maninder returned repeatedly during winter and summer college breaks for internships, immersing himself in Eklavya’s groundbreaking education initiatives. These experiences propelled him to switch from history to a master’s in education, focused on public-private partnerships, and launched nearly a decade of hands-on social work across North Indian states.
His journey included stints with organizations like Piramal Foundation, as well as CSR teams at HCL and Airtel, where he collaborated with government institutions to elevate public schooling quality amid systemic challenges like overcrowding and dilution of standards. This foundation of grassroots impact now fuels JobShob Nest, his mission to guide others into the social sector.
Building JobShob Nest: A One-Stop Ikigai Platform for Social Impact
Over the last year, Maninder has been building JobShob Nest, a comprehensive platform addressing all social sector needs, whether CSR, NGOs, or related fields. Grounded in the Japanese Ikigai concept balancing passion, profession, vocation, and mission, it creates a unified space for professionals. “Ikigai is a Japanese concept where they focus on four things: passion, profession, vocation and mission and we are trying to build a platform where all the social sector professionals will find their profession, vocation, mission and at one place,” he explains.
Initially focused on job listings, it tackles pre-COVID information scarcity when hardly one or two platforms existed, leaving people struggling to enter amid myths of work satisfaction without salaries. JobShob Nest breaks this cycle, positioning the social sector as welcoming like India itself, “everybody is welcome, without their religion, caste, class whatever it is.”
Mapping the Booming Social Sector Ecosystem
JobShob Nest also features social-sector-focused consultancies like Sattva, Samhita, Samagra, and others, high-impact firms now rivaling Big Four compensation while driving systemic change; government jobs for young professionals even at district levels; for-profit organizations serving marginalized communities; UN roles; and high-paying fellowships available in India. Full transparency on salary structures, hiring processes, and more empowers users to match skills and needs. Beyond jobs, it provides career counseling, Maninder has conducted over 3,000+ sessions for corporate entrants and sector upskillers along with resume building and training to prepare people fully. Verified CSR information counters corporate misconceptions of charity, offering fund-raising platforms, tools, and compliances, while webinar series featuring CSR heads emphasize strategic interventions supporting government and communities.
Maninder Singh’s influence extends far beyond JobShob Nest, earning him dual features on Times Square, New York screens for pioneering CSR and social sector career guidance. In 2025, Topmate, a vibrant community of 10,000+ creators, ranked him 3rd among the Top 25 Creators, celebrating his ability to inspire and inform. Creatively, he serves as a focus puller with Ektara Collective, producing short documentaries like Jadui Machhli and Truap on social issues through collective funding. Recently, he took on the role of Co-founder and COO at Vrikshai Collective Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to driving social change.
Maninder also visited Jhamste Gatsal Children’s Community for a grant visit. The organisation and the visit had a profound impact on both his professional and personal journey.Â
Deep Roots in Public Education Systems
Maninder’s journey spans government schools during schooling, Ramjas College Delhi University, and a master’s in education completed post-graduation. He witnessed public education’s dilution: once filled with proud government-school alumni, systems now struggled with overcrowding.
Early Eklavya Bhopal encounters during college breaks led to winter/summer internships and pan-India organizational visits. Post-masters, he spent nearly a decade working across North Indian states with government institutions and organizations like Piramal Foundation, plus CSR teams at HCL and Airtel, enhancing public schooling quality through targeted interventions.
Transformative Encounters with Students in Remote Classrooms
Multiple incidents during his time teaching social sciences in Bodhgaon, Thanagazi, Alwar district, cemented Maninder’s conviction that he was in the right place. While explaining modes of transport and mentioning Delhi’s underground metro, a student whose face he still vividly recalls reacted in local slang: “Don’t make us fool, this is not possible.”
For a seventh-grade textbook activity requiring visits to lower-caste community homes to understand societal complexity, one student arrived next morning showing his back, sharing how his parents had beaten him for entering such a home. On the last school day, seeking annual feedback, a girl stood and said: “Without washing, I filled water from there because now I know that all this does not happen.” Traveling to remote Sironj villages, he saw a bullock cart in running condition with wooden wheels for the first time. Until then, he had only seen or heard stories about them from elders, who used to describe how they were commonly used years ago.
Seeing this, merely around 800 kms away from the country’s capital, made him realise that: “I am in the right place and I am doing the right thing for the right people.”
CSR’s Evolution from Charity Myth to Strategic Partnership
CSR transformed profoundly, especially post-COVID 2021 amendments introducing micro-level project monitoring. Maninder’s 2014 master’s on public-private partnerships (PPPs) coincided with the formal mandate; pioneers like Tata experimented since the 1920s, but initial years saw corporates outsourcing funds to NGOs for basic utilization certificates.
Realizing liability for outcomes, not just spending, they shifted over 5-7 years, building in-house foundations to avoid nonprofit people-management costs. Education claimed over 50% of funds, progressing from infrastructure to teacher training, student support, and community engagement. Alignment with government projects proved critical: without communities matching corporate/government visions, even well-funded efforts fail to deliver sustainable upliftment.
Bright Future and Personal Advice in Conversation
The World Economic Forum’s January 2025 Future of Jobs report, spanning 140+ countries, ranks social work among top 10 trending segments for 5-10 years, signaling global boom. In conversation with The Logical Indian, Maninder affirms: “The future is very bright for the people who want to enter this.”
He advises starting early with self-reflection, “first we need to find our needs that this is what actually what I want to do, this is what I am enjoying”, while building skills for fair pay: “we also have family with us and we need to get those responsibilities also, we have to build the right skill set.” Rejecting late-life philanthropy, he stresses: “it’s not about work at all, it’s more about you,” and reinforces: “CSR is not a charity at all. It’s a very well-planned structured intervention to uplift the society,” positioning Ikigai as the roadmap for thriving in this vibrant sector.
The Logical Indian Perspective
Maninder Singh embodies the bridge between heartfelt social commitment and professional sustainability. His JobShobNest doesn’t just list jobs, it dismantles barriers, equips talent, and reframes social work as a viable, rewarding career path open to all, aligning perfectly with our mission to spotlight changemakers who blend logic, impact, and inclusivity for India’s brighter future.
If you’d like us to feature your story, please write to us at csr@5w1h.media
