GOA:
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation of Jubilant Bhartia Group today announced the finalists of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY)- India 2018 Award.
The finalists for this prestigious Award were identified based on rigorous due diligence process. This year, the Award will be presented by Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India, NITI Aayog, Government of India on October 11 in New Delhi.
The three finalists are:
Jessica Mayberry & Stalin K of Video Volunteers (VV), Goa Smita Ram and Ramakrishna N.K of Rang De, Bengaluru
Prema Gopalan of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), Pune
The SEOY India Award brings some of the most remarkable change makers from the country onto a common platform. These social entrepreneurs are promising changemakers and self-starters, with a strong inclination towards addressing the most pertinent needs of the marginalised communities in both scalable and sustainable ways. Their endeavours encapsulate alleviating poverty, hunger, gender inequality, promoting women empowerment, education. These social entrepreneurs are the torch-bearers who have taken the onus of working towards managing micro-finance needs and daunting challenges like climate change. The tenets of this year’s finalists are aligned with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. They have demonstrated their unwavering commitment in finding answers to new age problems with their technology driven, scalable, sustainable and innovative solutions.
Over the years, SEOY India Award is one of the most reputed & coveted award for country’s social entrepreneurs. The Award bestows adulation and honours the finest model in social entrepreneurship and the entrepreneur who have been instrumental in nurturing a dream of articulating value for their community. The three finalists of 2018 are working with the Government as well as Private Partnerships to herald grass-root transformations, through their enterprise and sustainable models.
Congratulating the finalists, Hilde Schwab, Co-founder & Chairperson, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship said, “The calibre of all finalist candidates is truly impressive. They all deserve recognition for their ground-breaking work to create a more inclusive India.”
Applauding the finalists, Shyam S Bhartia, Chairman & Founder and Hari S Bhartia, Co-Chairman & Founder, Jubilant Bhartia Group and Founder Directors of Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, said, “This is the ninth year of our enriching partnership with the Schwab Foundation. Through this association, we have been able to showcase the best and highlight various social issues and numerous possible ways to solve those. The platform of SEOY India Award has brought to the forefront, impactful social entrepreneurs bringing about a positive change and providing innovative solutions to the community. The three finalists of this year are unique in their own individual way.”
The SEOY India 2018 Award opened in March this year and received over 107 applications of exceptional quality. Through a five-stage selection process, the finalists were shortlisted after on-site visits, background research, reference checks and multiple rounds of deliberations. Education sector (47%) leads the nomination tally followed by Health (44%), Environment (43%) & Rural Development (42%). The other sectors which participated most actively were Enterprise Development, Technology, Water sanitation, communication/media and Microfinance.
