Prema Gopalan wins Social Entrepreneur of the Year India 2018 award

The SEOY awards promotes social entrepreneurs in India.

New Delhi: Prema Gopalan, founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), has won the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award 2018.

The SEOY awards, founded by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation of Jubilant Bhartia Group, promotes social entrepreneurs in India by recognising organisations that work to promote inclusive growth and contribute to bring change in the society through their entrepreneurial vision.

The Award was presented by Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India, NITI Aayog, in New Delhi.

Prema Gopalan and her team have built vibrant eco-systems to enable 145,000 women to succeed in remote and ailing markets. The SSP model comprises four ventures: a federated network of 5000 SHGs; a resilience fund for women-led businesses; a rural school of entrepreneurship and leadership for women; and a market aggregator that provides warehousing, branding, marketing and distribution services to last-mile business women. In addition, it has catalyzed the government, investors, financial institutions and Indian and global corporations to partner directly with grassroots women business leaders.

The winner of SEOY India Award participates in the annual and regional meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF).  The finalists are evaluated on key parameters of Innovation, Sustainability, Scalability, Reach and Direct Social Impact.

“India is at the forefront of social entrepreneurship and the Social Entrepreneur of India Award, in my view, is the platform where real transformation is taking place,” Rajiv Kumar said.

This year, the SEOY India Award received over 100 applications of exceptional quality which were evaluated on key parameters of innovation, sustainability, scalability, reach and direct social impact.