Dr. Memcha Loitongbam: A ray of new hope for NGOs in Manipur
Fulbright Scholar at University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) , 2010 - 2011

In Kansas City of US, a visiting Fulbright Scholar from Manipur, India, Dr. Memcha Loitongbam is doing her research on how U.S. provides resources and education to develop successful nonprofit leadership. Dr. Memcha Loitongbam wanted to conduct her research with one of the top centers in the country for nonprofit leadership. Harvard and the Midwest Center at UMKC were the two top universities on this type of research and the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at UMKC's Henry W. Bloch School of Management being more accessible and responsive, she choose it.

According to an interview, Dr. Memcha Loitongbam did with The Bloch School, University of Missouri-Kansa City (UMKC) (link here) - India is estimated to have between one and two million of them (www.Indiangos.com, 2007). Even in a small state like Manipur, there are more than 18,191 NPOs registered under Manipur Societies Registration Act 1989 (Administration Report 2007-08, Cooperation Department, Government of Manipur).

The NPOs in Manipur face the complexities and challenges of resource development, institutional and technical demands, meeting the objectives and achieving sustainability like any other NPOs in rest of the world. However, as they are undergoing transformations, especially those engaged in microfinance (pursuit of financial sustainability, there is a call for a strategic approach in the successful management of these organizations.

As it is found out through her research that the nonprofit sector in U.S. is contributing immensely to the economic growth of the country and NPOs today exercise enormous spending power and offer more jobs than ever before, studying these successful NPOs in the U.S., will help her in applying it on the NPOs of India so that they too can run effectively.

Her state - Manipur lacks infrastructural facilities and development primarily depends on Government funds. Limited state funds, fluid political situations, natural disasters, ethnic strife, and the level of per capita income severely restricts the ability to purchase needed goods and services. So through her research of the successful NPOs in U.S., she hopes to give the NPOs in Manipur their share of her research allowing them to learn more about how to look at how planning and strategy affects performance and ways it can be improved and in turn helps the society.

Furthermore the interview adds that it is not only India who will be the only beneficiary of Loitongbam's research. One of her research vehicles will be a survey of approximately 80 non-profit organizations in the Kansas City area. The data, Loitongbam gathers, from this research will also benefit those organizations as she looks closely at how aspects like financial literacy and strategic planning help or affect performance in nonprofit organizations. At the end of the interview, she expresses her gratitude and thankfulness to UMKC, The Bloch School and the Midwest Center in particular for giving her all the facilities and full cooperation to fulfill her fellowship.

She concludes by thanking Dr. David Renz, director of the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership, and the staff for all their support and guidance. She looks forward to her continued association with Kansas City and the people at UMKC and intends to imbibe their work ethics and culture and share with my country what she has learnt.

Further interview with e-pao.net, she says, "As soon as I return to Manipur, my first program will be to contact as many NGOs as possible in Manipur and share my learning and experiences to them. I am ready to conduct workshops voluntarily from my side regarding the management and planning of NGOs and how to relate them to performances. I have some association and contacts with few NGOs in Manipur and will start with them first. Hope it works out fine."

And even though she agrees that the US environment and the environment back home are completely different but she feels and believes that if volunteerism is encouraged in the right perspective it can contribute immensely to solve many of our societal problems. Many social problems of the laid back races were solved by volunteerism.

She further asserts that people in U.S. unlike our people in Manipur, loves to volunteer if not in money but in time, people of all ages both young and old are involved in some sort of volunteerism. It is not money or financial resources that solve societal woes; we can do wonders with our time and energy.

She says, "It is really amazing how people volunteer here. I would like to carry on my work back home and try to instill the importance of volunteerism to our fellows in whatever way I can, and would like to highlight the spirit of the NPOs here and how they function and how they are motivated and driven by their mission and vision".

Her aims are high; she would like to invite the Professors and successful Executives of NPOs from the U.S. to visit Manipur and share their views and work in collaboration with them. Dr. Memcha Loitongbam wants to conduct in Manipur the same research she is undergoing in U.S. to help our NGOs in whatever manner she can. Even though she knows it will be a big challenge to work on her individual level, she aspires to go forward with it.

Dr. Memcha Loitongbam is an Associate Professor in Manipur Institute of Management Studies, Manipur University. She is a recipient of National Scholarship from Matriculation to Master in Commerce and also for the Departmental Scholarship for 2 years from 1990 – 1991.

She had a very excellent academic record which includes securing 1st Position in Pre-University in Commerce Examination conducted by Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BSEM), 1983; 1st Position in Bachelor in Commerce Degree from Manipur University, 1985 and various others.

She received her PhD degree in the year 1993. The title of her thesis is "Growth Centre Strategy for Integrated Development Planning – A Case Study of Imphal District, Manipur".

She has also successfully completed Faculty Development Programme in Management, at Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad (IIMA), 1997-1998.

With the effort she is committing with this research in the U.S. the people of Manipur and India at large can expect a ray of hope for more economic growth and more employments in the coming years.

Dr. Memcha Loitongbam will be in Kansas City through April 30, 2011 conducting her research.

Related Links:

• University of Missouri-Kansas City - UMKC Website here.
• Fulbright Scholar Program - Website here.

---

* E-pao.net reported on this article with an interview with Dr. Memcha Loitongbam and additional material from her University Website Blog.
This artcile was webcasted on March 26, 2011 .

---