NEW DELHI: The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum, in partnership with the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation announced Urvashi Sahni founder of Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF) as the winner of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year India 2017 Award.
The Award was conferred by Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India in the presence of over 300 participants at a high-profile gathering in New Delhi today night.
Urvashi Sahni was awarded for contribution in the field of education that includes, empowers and builds leaders among disadvantaged girls. Aided by technology, policy push and partnerships with the Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh Govt., SHEF has scaled its model of education to 900 Govt. schools. It has trained 5000 teachers and impacted 1,50,000 girls directly and 2,70,000 girls indirectly in the hotbeds of poverty and gender discrimination.
- Winner gets a chance to enter the World Economic forum network, enhance the learning curve with course opportunities at Harvard University, Stanford University, INSEAD and benefit from dialogues with the industry stalwarts for funding and business opportunities
Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu said, “Social Entrepreneurs deal with different aspects and challenges that exists in the society. They are bringing technology with commitment and passion to transform lives. I believe that changing lives is far more important than anything else and hence to have a happier society we need many more social entrepreneurs like we have seen today.”
Social entrepreneurs are the change agents who are addressing the needs of underserved communities in both scalable and sustainable ways.
The winner of SEOY India 2017 Award was able to impress the eminent jury by scoring high on the parameters of Innovation, sustainability, Direct Social Impact, Reach & Scope and Replicability.
The winner qualified as a candidate who is actively bringing social change by transforming traditional practice and is apt to be a role model for future social entrepreneurs and the general public.
“This year finalists are working to address different aspects of the education ecosystem. They are proving mid-day meals to students focus in school, increasing girls’ enrolment, and helping to change attitudes around gender roles through schools.”, Hilde Schwab, Chairperson & Co-founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship said.
Shyam S Bhartia, Chairman & Founder and Hari S Bhartia, Co-Chairman & Founder, Jubilant Bhartia Group and Founder Directors of Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, said, “We feel inspired by the passion of all the three finalists. Technology can brighten potential of social entrepreneurs and this has been proved by finalists by their use of modern technology in implementing change.”
“SEOY India platform has offered several opportunities to network, identify new avenues for funding and enhancement in their learning curve. We are glad to see that the platform of SEOY India Award has evolved to become one of the most distinguished honor for social entrepreneurs in our country.”, further added.
