ABOUT SURAJ PATRO
Not a conventional career.
A connected one.
From community fields to boardrooms.
From building programmes to building businesses.
From creating experiences to telling stories.
Suraj's journey has always been about turning ideas into action — and action into impact.
Entrepreneur · Consultant · Social Impact Professional · Writer · Filmmaker
01 / THE PERSON BEHIND THE WORK
Curiosity has taken me places a career plan never could.
Suraj Patro is an entrepreneur, consultant, writer and filmmaker whose professional journey spans sports, sports for development, social enterprise, events, business development and organisational strategy.
For more than a decade, he has worked across different environments — from grassroots communities and NGOs to educational institutions, brands, businesses and large-scale public experiences.
But the roles themselves tell only part of the story. At the centre of his work is a natural instinct to observe, question, connect ideas and find ways to make them work in the real world.
An idea may begin as a conversation, a problem that needs solving, a new event concept, a business opportunity or even a story.
How do we make it real?
02 / GROUND + BUSINESS
Grassroots understanding.
Business thinking.
Suraj's early professional experiences gave him the opportunity to work closely with people and communities, helping him understand something that continues to influence his work today:
“A good idea works only when it understands the people it is meant for.”
His MBA in Social Entrepreneurship from NMIMS added another dimension — helping him connect social understanding with business strategy.
STRATEGY · OPERATIONS · PROJECT MANAGEMENT · BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT · PARTNERSHIPS · STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT · FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT · MONITORING & EVALUATION
Moving an idea from possibility to execution.
STRATEGY
IMPACT
COMMUNITY FIRST
03 / THE JOURNEY
Built through experience. Shaped by every chapter.
2010
THE BEGINNING
Health & Counselling
Suraj began his professional journey in health and disease-management services — an early experience in working directly with people and understanding behaviour, wellbeing and individual needs.
SPORT AS A TOOL FOR CHANGE
Social Development & Sport
A major chapter began with the co-founding of OSCAR Foundation. Working within the sports-for-development ecosystem brought Suraj closer to communities and showed him how sport could become much more than recreation — a platform for participation, learning, confidence and social change.
2012
2015
ADDING BUSINESS TO PURPOSE
MBA — Social Entrepreneurship · NMIMS
Suraj pursued an MBA in Social Entrepreneurship, strengthening his understanding of how purpose-led ideas can be supported by strategy, management and sustainable organisational thinking.
IMPACT × ENTERPRISE
CREATING OPPORTUNITY
Founder — Aawaaj
Suraj's entrepreneurial journey expanded with Aawaaj, a social enterprise focused on creating home-based livelihood opportunities for women from underserved communities.
2017
2019
BUILDING EXPERIENCES
Founder & Director — 4Memories
Suraj founded 4Memories Event LLP, bringing together his experience across sport, community engagement, project development, partnerships and entrepreneurship.
FROM IDEAS TO GROWTH
Business Development & Consulting
Alongside entrepreneurship, Suraj works independently and through 4Memories with organisations, businesses and NGOs — from early ideas and opportunities through concept creation, business development, partnerships, project planning and execution.
NEXT
TODAY
BUSINESS + IMPACT + STORIES
Writer & Filmmaker
Cinema has opened another expression of something Suraj has been doing throughout his professional life: observing people.
As a writer and filmmaker, he is increasingly exploring human-centred stories grounded in ordinary lives, relationships, struggle, dignity and emotion.
His short film मिट्टी का आदमी — Mitti Ka Aadmi represents an important step in this creative journey.
04 / WHAT CONNECTS IT ALL?
Different chapters.
The same instinct.
OBSERVE SOMETHING.
↓
QUESTION WHAT COULD BE DIFFERENT.
↓
FIND AN IDEA.
↓
BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
↓
BUILD IT.
↓
LEARN FROM WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
Whether the outcome is a programme, event, partnership, business concept or story, Suraj is drawn to the journey between:
“WHAT IF?”
“WE MADE IT HAPPEN.”
05 / LEARNING → SHARING
What experience teaches, share forward.
Suraj also enjoys taking his experience back into learning spaces. From engaging with MBA students at NMIMS to conversations with organisations and NGOs, he shares practical perspectives shaped not only by theory, but by years of building, experimenting, managing and solving problems on the ground.
“Because sometimes one practical experience can teach what ten slides cannot.”
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
SPORTS FOR DEVELOPMENT
BUILDING IDEAS INTO PROJECTS
EVENTS & EXPERIENCES