Champions of Community Driven Development
A legacy of providing exemplary leadership in pursuing Sustainable Development
Andre Gingras, a seasoned development expert, and Bala Theresa Gingras, an Indian philanthropist, founded Bala Vikasa in 1991. Their unbridled desire for social upliftment combined with their visionary, inclusive and sustainable development approaches saw their efforts bearing fruit steadily and exponentially. Their dynamic leadership has been the foundation on which Bala Vikasa built itself to be one of the most successful community development organizations in India impacting over 7 Million rural people belonging to 7000 villages from 8 states of India.
They have ensured that Bala Vikasa is always relevant and responsive to the changing needs of the development ecosystem. The Bala Vikasa People Development Training Center (PDTC) and Bala Vikasa Center for Social and Responsible Business (CSRB) are necessary interventions made in that direction.

The Gingras couple founded PDTC in Warangal in the year 2002 to introduce Bala Vikasa’s successful CDD approaches and development models to development practitioners from all over the world. By delivering structured training modules based on Bala Vikasa’s field experience and developing insightful research publications, PDTC is greatly enhancing the efficacy of development practice and strengthening the development ecosystem globally.
The founders always saw the role of businesses as integral to all sustainable development efforts. With the emergence of themes like Social Entrepreneurship, Responsible Business, Corporate Sustainability, Business Responsibility and the like, they found it to be the right time to engage actively with Businesses – small and large.
This resulted in the setting up of Bala Vikasa CSRB in the year 2014 as a one-of-its-kind institution to promote responsible business practices, foster social innovation, drive social businesses and empower micro entrepreneurs. With a state-of-the-art facility in Ghatkesar, Hyderabad, Bala Vikasa CSRB delivers a number of result-driven programs designed for diverse stakeholders