India platform Win the prestigious Social Innovators of the Year 2024
The Winner and Finalist of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) Award – India platform, a joint initiative between Jubilant Bhartia Foundation (JBF) and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship (a sister organisation of the World Economic Forum) win the prestigious Social Innovators of the Year 2024 Award by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship announced in Davos, Switzerland today.
Through the SEOY India Award platform recommendations were made for the Schwab Foundation global awards.
Ajaita Shah, Founder and CEO, Frontier Markets and Shuchin Bajaj, Founder and Director, Ujala Cygnus Hospitals are among the 16 organisations chosen for the prestigious Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards. They will join a global community of 477 change leaders directly improving the lives of 891 million people.
The social innovators are the key enablers of inclusive growth who implement practical and sustainable solutions to address challenges in numerous areas including health, education, and environment, access to technology and job creation. They are values-driven, entrepreneurial individuals who develop sustainable new models.
Social innovation has grown significantly over the years, reaching at least 10 million social enterprises in the world, according to a new study by the Schwab Foundation using globally available data worldwide. The social economy in India represents nearly 10% of employment and nearly 9% of the country’s GDP, as per a report of 2018. The Indian impact investing ecosystem is also evolving rapidly & India is today considered as one of the largest impact investment destinations in emerging countries.
The 2024 awardees of the Social Innovators of the Year by Schwab Foundation have been chosen across four categories – Social Entrepreneurs, Public Social Innovators, Corporate Social Innovators and Collective Social Innovators.
Indian social entrepreneurs, Ajaita Shah and Shuchin Bajaj have been awarded under the Social Entrepreneurs award category (Employing innovative, market-based approaches to directly address social issues)