Kolkata: The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, a not for profit organisation of Jubilant Bhartia Group on Monday announced the finalists of the 11th Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award, 2020.
The social innovators selected as finalists for the SEOY India Award, 2020 are: Sujay Santra, iKure, Kolkata, Sandeep Patel, NEPRA, Ahmedabad, Ashraf Patel, Pravah & ComMutiny, New Delhi and Madhu Pandit Dasa, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Bengaluru.
The winner will be chosen by a distinguished jury comprising industry stalwarts and eminent personalities from different backgrounds. The winner of SEOY India will join the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship community, a prestigious network of social innovators from around the world.
These social innovators have been selected through a rigorous process of evaluation based on various parameters, including background research, personal and on-ground team interactions, impact assessment, expert reviews and reference checks among others.
The chosen finalists are tech-enabled, accomplished social entrepreneurs working in the fields of waste management, rural health, youth leadership and malnourishment in children. Their efforts are helping to bridge the gap between the marginalised and the mainstream in India.
Using disruptive innovation in their respective initiatives, these innovators are bringing change through livelihood generation for rural women, improving primary health facilities, organising BoP communities of rag pickers, shaping vulnerable groups of adolescents and youth and nourishing malnourished children.
The SEOY India Award 2020 opened in March this year and received over 100 diverse applications from 23 cities including 20 applications from women social entrepreneurs. The categories of the intervention included clean technology, media communication, disability, energy, enterprise development, labour conditions, microfinance, nutrition, sustainable farming and water & sanitation.
Out of the total number of applications, health sector leads the nomination tally with (47%) applications followed by the environment (37%) education and livelihood (35%) and rural development (23%).
The SEOY India awards has established itself as one of the most reputed and coveted awards for social entrepreneurs in India. The annual award recognises entrepreneurs who implement innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions to solve India’s social problems. These entrepreneurs address pressing issues faced by under-served communities.
