LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT KARMAVEER PURASKAAR
Smt. Nirmala Narula (2009-10)
Smt.Nirmala Narula is currently the President of Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India. She has been a socially responsible person, symbolizing her actions as a citizen with Social Justice now for over four and a half decades. In her lifetime she has pioneered various causes touching all spheres of the social fabrics viz., the children, women, youth and now working concertedly focused on Alzheimer’s and other form of dementia falling into the ambit of Elderly care. She gave a whole new meaning to the old adage ‘Charity begins at home’ when she opened a ‘neighborhood school’ for the underprivileged children in her own house. In spite of the many roadblocks in her path, she managed to bring state of the art hospital facilities not only to India but Bangladesh and Nepal as well. Smt.Narula is at present deeply involved with opening the Center in Delhi for people with early Alzheimer’s, to bring respite/relief to family members for a few hours in a day. Smt.Narula has received well deserved achievement and awards over the years and she continues to serve society through ARDSI.
Major General R.S. Pannu (2008-09)
After spending 36 long years in Indian Army, Major General Raghubir Singh Pannu devoted his life in the service of the people through voluntary sector. A man of great courage, having been a front line soldier, he became the think tank of Help Age India in 1984. Help Age, then a six year old organisation, was put on the map as India’s leading charity during his 12 year tenure. He conceived and executed a 10 year plan that brought more than 430 NGOs under Help Age India’s umbrella. Major General R.S. Pannu became the first President and Managing Trustee at the Global Cancer Concern India during 2000. He became a sought after crusader for many international bodies for tackling global issues. Major General R.S. Pannu will be remembered for his unique contribution to the development of the voluntary sector in India. His experience, knowledge, achievements and total dedication to the service of humanity will remain a role model.
Professor M.S.Swaminathan (2007-08)
Professor Swaminathan has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as ‘the Father of Economic Ecology’. A plant geneticist by training, Professor Swaminathan's contributions to the agricultural renaissance of India have led to his being widely referred to as the scientific leader of the green revolution movement. His advocacy of sustainable agriculture leading to an ever-green revolution makes him an acknowledged world leader in the field of sustainable food security. He has had a pioneering role in mainstreaming gender considerations in agriculture and rural development, and has been nationally and internationally recognized and awarded for his his outstanding scientific contribution in the field of agriculture Dr. Verghese Kurien (2006-07)
Dr. Verghese Kurien is the father of the White Revolution in India, the architect behind ‘Operation Flood’ the world’s largest dairy development programme. He was the chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) and his name synonymous with ‘Amul’
right from Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (KDCMPUL), to his stint with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the National Tree Growers Federation (NTGF). Dr Kurien has been steadfast in his mission that the standard to measure success would be the benefit that actually reached the village women.
LIFELONG FIGHT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE THROUGH CITIZEN ACTION KVP
Virendar Mohan Trehan(2009-10)
A multifaceted personality, Mr. Virendar Mohan Trehan has devoted much of his time to propagate the cause of science and technology, telecommunications and social harmony in the country. Being a social scientist, the welfare of society has always been his utmost priority. To promote the spirit of fraternity, amity, peace and harmony throughout the world, Mr. Trehan founded Foundation for Amity & National Solidarity (FANS). The objective of his organization has been to promote friendship and harmony amongst all Indians and with his diverse endeavors, he has been successful in achieving the same. Through FANS, he has been able to raise scholarships in kind, for the underprivileged children to help them with their studies. He has also been associated with several NGOs like Hindustani Panchayat Sangathan (HPS), All India Satsang Mandal, Archana Punarvas Kendra (established by FANS); be it as a member or founder. In recognition of his spirit of entrepreneurship and contribution in the field of telecom technology, popularizing science and propagating national integration and social harmony, several awards and honours have been conferred upon Mr. Trehan, latest being the prestigious Award of Presidential Gold Medal presented to him by the Indian Science Congress Association on January 3, 2008 at Visakhapatnam by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh for propagating the message of Amity, Peace and Harmony for the entire fraternity and for being a Social Scientist par excellence LIFELONG
Pamela Gale Malhotra(2008-09)
Mrs. Pamela Malhotra is the Co-chairperson and Secretary of the Sai Sanctuary Trust. She has years of experience behind her as the primary caretaker of animals at Sanctuary. She has been both the author and subject of several articles/interviews/film documentaries on the environment, philosophy, politics and education. Graduated Summa cum Laude (Valedictorian) at the Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA with a double major in Political Science and History, she is also trained in Chemistry, Pharmacology, Abnormal Psychology; Reiki Master healer, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Vibrionics therapy. She also continues charity work, as the only health professional in remote villages in the Himalayas and in Kodagu District.
Mr. Alyque Padamsee (2007-08)
Mr. Padamsee is the CEO of AP Advertising Pvt. Ltd. For 14 years, Mr. Padamsee was the Chief Executive who built Lintas India to be one of the top agencies in the country. Known as the Brand Father of Indian Advertising, Mr. Padamsee has built brands like Liril, Park Avenue, Jet Airways, and the sensational Kamasutra. Mr. Padamsee is also the guru of the English Theatre in India, and is famous for his Theatre productions. The Advertising Club of Bombay named him “Advertising Man of the Century”. He is also the only Indian to be voted into the International Clio Hall of Fame, the Oscars of World Advertising.
He works as a Social Activist for the Citizens for Justice & Peace Committee, which works on communal harmony, the Citizens Action Group, Citizen’s Council for a Better Tomorrow, the BBC Trust on an Eradication of Leprosy program among others. The President of India has conferred on him the Padmashree Award.
GOVERNMENT CITIZEN KARMAVEER PURASKAAR
IPS Officer
D R Kaarthikeyan (2009-10)
An Agriculturist turned lawyer-turned IPS officer, Dr. Kaarthikeyan served the nation with great distinction in many capacities in India and abroad. He has been Director of CBI, Director General of NHRC and CRPF. Presently he holds important positions in many sectors, be it corporate, social or spiritual organisations. He has been traveling all over India and abroad promoting Peace, Religious Harmony, Spirituality, Human Rights and respect for Environment. His work to society has been widely recognized over time and there is an endless list of honours conferred upon him for the same. A few important awards to his credit are-the ‘Humanitarian Award’ from the Integral Yoga International, USA for outstanding achievement in service to humanity; “For the Sake of Honour” by the Rotary Clubs; Rajiv Gandhi Award for Harmony by the Interfaith Harmony of India, Atma Jyothi by the World Academy of Spiritual Sciences; Jewel of Delhi by the All India Conference of Intellectuals; President’s Medal for Distinguished Service and many more by various civil society organisations. He has a successful track record to date and is widely respected for his commitment and quality of service in various spheres in various fields of activity.
J.M.Lyngdoh (2006-07)
James Michael Lyngdoh will forever be associated with the credible, successful, and free elections held in difficult circumstances in Jammu & Kashmir and Gujarat in the aftermath of the 2002 riots. He has used his authority with calm gentleness and surgical efficiency to protect the rights of the weak from opportunistic politicians. His remarkable rectitude, impeccable integrity and unassuming nature have set standards for probity in public life. He ensured fair and transparent conduct of the electoral process as Election commissioner and set standards for fair electoral polls
Harsh Mander(2006-07)
Harsh Mander had served in the Indian Administrative Service for about 20 years in various capacities including district collector, managing director SC/ST Finance Corporation. He has been described by his peers as ‘frank, fearless and committed with indomitable courage’ when it came to defending the oppressed and weaker sections of the society. He resigned from the IAS in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots as he felt the call of his conscience and duty was greater than the oath of office. He took effective stand during the Gujarat carnage of 2002, and broke the conspiracy of silence around the pogrom.
PANCHAYATI RAJ KARMAVEER PURASKAAR
Vijaytai Prabhakar Patil (2009-10)
A dynamic and inspiring personality, Vijaytai Prabhakar Patil, is the name behind the success of Vadgaon Budruk Gram Panchayat. Vadgaon Budruk gram panchayat has won various taluka, district, division and state level awards in the field of forestry, health, sanitation and education. It has stood out as a leader amongst the 28000 odd other panchayats of Maharashtra. This panchayat has revamped the entire face of the village, converting dusty roads to concretes, equipping the village with solar energy, providing healthy sanitation and proper education at school level. All this has been made possible by the leadership of Vijaytai Prabhakar Patil who has transcended all boundaries of caste, gender, religion and age to bring about this spectacular change. She has stood strong constantly as a motivation for all the villagers to bring about this change.
(Announced in 2008-09, in association with ISS) It will be given to citizen Laureates who have been instrumental in initiating and implementing good self governance policies, at the rural level to make Panchayati Raj system more efficient.
CORPORATE CITIZEN KARMAVEER PURASKAAR
- Corporate Citizens for Holistic Media Initiatives
Pradeep Gupta (2009-10)
Pradeep Gupta is the chairman of CyberMedia group, one of the largest speciality media houses in South Asia. He is an alumnus of IIT- Delhi and IIM- Calcutta. He has been involved in the social development sector in various capacities and has taken initiatives as a social agent through his media properties. His company focuses on nurturing the industries that have or might facelift India at the global arena. His social intervention plan in the IT/BPO industry cannot be ignored where he championed the issue of disability and changed the outlook of this booming sector to make it accessible to the disabled. Moreover, he is currently involved in making all Indian websites disabled-friendly. His ‘Getting Girls to School’ programme results in 1500 girls entering education every year. He has also been awarded with Helen Keller award.
Chairperson- Indu Jain(2008-09)
Ms. Indu Jain is Chairperson of The Times Group and the President of The Times Foundation, which she founded and carefully guides. The Times Foundation has garnered international acclaim for its, often pioneering, activities in the field of development. Under her direction, The Times Foundation runs Community Services, Research Foundation and Times Relief Fund for disaster relief like floods, cyclones, earthquakes and epidemics. Ms. Jain is also the founder President of the Ladies wing of FICCI (FLO) and the Chairperson of the Bharatiya Jnanpith Foundation. Ms. Jain is also the guiding force behind The Oneness Forum, formally launched by the President of India in 2003. Spreading the message of ‘Peace Within First’, she spearheads a movement to spread the principles of peace globally.
CSR Head - Pooran Pandey(2008-09)
Pooran Pandey has been working as Director, Times Foundation based at New Delhi, fostering a collective voice for the civil society in making the society just, equitable and sustainable. Over the years, he developed expertise through exposure in varied fields in facilitation, co-ordination and liaison with government agencies at all levels, donor agencies, civil society organizations, NGOs, media and corporate houses with a CSR mandate. He has worked as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Voluntary Action Network India (VANI) based at New Delhi from 2004 - 2006. As the CEO, he was responsible for overall operations of the secretariat based in Delhi and has been performing multi-dimensional roles in execution and administration of plans. Recently, he led the launch of TEACH INDIA, India’s biggest volunteer driven educational program for underprivileged children, with a core team in four metros, to address the educational needs of underprivileged children. Currently, he is leading setting up rural assets for Tsunami victims in Chennai and Earthquake affected victims in Jammu, besides leading the launch of group’s flagship educational project in Bangalore.- Corporate Citizens for Holistic CSR Initiatives Karmaveer Puraskaar
Nakul Anand (2009-10)
Nakul Anand is the Divisional Chief Executive – Hotel Division, ITC Limited. An Economics Honors graduate from Delhi University and an AMP degree holder from the Bond University, Australia, he joined ITC Training Program in 1978. In a career that spans over nearly three decades he is widely recognized for his excellent man management and team-building abilities besides infusing a spirit of action and a result oriented work culture. Mr.Nakul Anand firmly believes in value bases strategies and is highly regarded and respected for his work on environment, health and safety.Holistic Csr Initiatives-Csr Head
Niranjan Khatri (2009-10)
Mr.Niranjan Khatri is presently the General Manager at Welcomenviron Initiatives, ITC. He truly believes that all citizens are equal in dignity and hence must promote the values of equality and human dignity. His mantra in life is to ‘Be the Change’ and make a difference. Mr.Niranjan has been involved in providing vocational training to orphans, educating and sensitizing them for employment. More than 200 orphans have been trained and absorbed by the hotel units themselves and elsewhere. He has also been working for people with disabilities and provided them with employment opportunities within his organization. He has also been responsible for the development of a Domestic Help Training Program (DHTP) for creating a paradigm shift to move from Corporate Social Responsibility to Individual Social Responsibility. In all his initiatives, bringing in new ideas has always been a challenge that he has very well exploited for the betterment of the society.
CEO - Ajay Bijli (2008-09)
As the founder and the trustee of PVR Nest - the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing of PVR Ltd, Mr. Ajay Bijli has provided the vision to PVR’s CSR social intervention plan. The vision includes establishing PVR Community Centres for the youth, children and families to come together for their joy, happiness and fulfilment. Under his guidance, the PVR CSR team encourages dialogues and partnership with civil societies, people, organizations, corporate bodies and NGOs. They have evolved successful activities like Childscapes, Street to School, PVR Ki Paathshala, Green PVR, Green films, PVR e-Cycle, PVR Lifeline, Childwatch and other interesting activities.
CSR Head-Deepa Menon(2008-09)
Deepa has worked extensively with the development sector and with diverse civil society organizations in different capacities. She has worked in Katha, Heinrich Böll Foundation India, ActionAid International, SARI/Equity. As CSR head of PVR Cinemas, her vision is a just society with Dignity and Respect for poor children around the multiplexes. The PVR Pathshaala is an initiative that has been nurtured by her, along with others like Childscapes, Street to School, Green PVR, Green films, PVR e-Cycle, PVR Lifeline and Childwatch. These initiatives are instrumental in touching almost 275 children today; a number will only grow by leaps and bounds in the near future.CSR Head-Mamta Saikia , CEO- Sunil Mittal (2007-08)
Mamta has long been part of the development sector, before taking charge of Bharti Telecom's CSR Operations. The woman behind the brand CRY (Child Relief and You) and its immensely successful fund-raising strategy, she has also worked as an independent consultant for various international development agencies, including Oxfam, ICCO and People For Animals. She went on to completely revamp Bharti's philanthropic strategy, winning both accolades and respect for the company's CSR efforts. Now leading the 'Satya Bharti School' Project, one of the country's most ambitious development projects, Mamta Saikia takes on this role just as effortlessly as the multifarious ones in the past. - Corporate Citizen for Holistic IT Initiatives
Mr. P. Sridhar Reddy (2007-08)
Mr. Reddy is the founder of Rs. 500 Crores Pioneer Group with interests in Engineering & Technology. Mr. Reddy launched Pioneer in IT consulting, evolving original products as well as turnkey solutions for clients no less than State Governments, MNC Corporations and large PSUs. He currently pilots Ctrl S Datacenters Ltd., a tier IV disaster recovery Center and establishing property development company Iconic Designs Pvt. Ltd. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including a citation from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for developing
innovative e-governance solutions- Corporate Executive Karmaveer Puraskaar
Dr. Villoo Morawala Patell (2009-10)
Dr.Villoo Morawala-Patell is the Founder, Chairperson and Managing Director of Avesthagen Limited. Her company is based on unique model that focuses on the convergence of food, pharma and population genetics. A convergence that leads to continuous and path- breaking innovations in predictive, preventive, personalised healthcare. Whether she is wooing investors, building a patent portfolio, critiquing multinational pharmaceutical firms or tackling hereditary diseases in her native community, she brings a unique mix of dynamism and intellectual verve to the table. With the success and immense recognition to her work and name, she certainly takes women empowerment to a whole new level.
Meera Sanyal (2008-09)
Meera H. Sanyal is Country Executive - ABN AMRO Bank, India & Chairperson, ACES. Meera is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, UK and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France. Meera is an active participant in various Sustainable Development initiatives of the Bank that focus on children, women and environment. She is the Chairperson of ABN AMRO Foundation India, set up in 2006, works closely with microfinance institutions in some of the poorest regions in India, building their capacities for effective delivery of microfinance services. The most unique feature of AAFI is its comprehensive approach in addressing the issue of financial inclusion. Going forward AAFI has planned various initiatives to achieve its ambition of being a catalyst in making the poor self reliant, while balancing the goal of revenue generation.
Arun Maira (2006-07)
Arun Maira, with an unusual combination of hands-on-leadership and consulting experience, is a thought leader on the subject of transformational change and leadership. Arun Maira is deeply engaged with collaborative processes for addressing issues of development in India and abroad, and the role of business corporations in these processes. He has been promoting Corporate & citizen social responsibility in the corporate sector at CII and other forums and with effective writing in newspapers
Anu Aga (2006-07)
Anu Aga has been acclaimed for her masterly handling of Thermax, making it one among the few woman-headed multinational companies in India. She is the first Corporate Citizen who promoted 1% of profits for charitable causes, involved with various charities. She is among the rarest of CEOs who took a stand and publicly spoke out during the Gujarat Violence of 2002, and personally visited the relief camps. She has contributed significantly to freedom of the press in India.- Corporate CEO’s Foundation Karmaveer Puraskaar
Satya Narayanan (2009-10)
Mr.Satya Narayanan displayed the conviction to start a viable enterprise in education when he decided to become an entrepreneur in education. As the founding chairman of Career Launcher India Ltd., he has nurtured various students by helping them achieve their dream career. An ambassador of education, he has been successful in improving vocational training in the country by entering the industrial training institutes and providing quality education to poor students in Andhra Pradesh as a part of the Indus World Schools (Andhra Pradesh). Recently he has bagged a project from Ministry of Rural Development for employability skills training of 6400 rural below poverty line youth in 20 districts across Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. His organization, Career Launcher, is a registered training partner of Gujarat Knowledge Society to undertake vocational training courses for the underprivileged in Gujarat. He has been involved in promoting responsible corporate citizenry that revolves around encouraging ethical entrepreneurship.
Ashok Kurien (2008-09)
Ammada Trust is funded primarily by Ashok Kurien, who has ensured that the Trust’s work to help the needy will continue even after him. The objectives of Ammada Trust, registered with the Commissioner of Charities as a public trust in March 2001, are to help the poor and needy, irrespective of caste or creed, in areas of health, education and self-improvement. The Ammada Trust has supported more than 3000 health cases and 200 small entrepreneurs, sponsored the education of close to 1000 children and helped nearly 300 NGOs in addition to several community based projects. Ashok Kurien is also a Patron of the Maharastra Dyslexic Association, and regularly counsels children and parents at a number of learning disability schools/institutions.
GLOBAL INDIAN KARMAVEER PURASKAAR
Kayzad Namdarian (2009-10)
Kayzad Namdarian’s story is both of exposure and donation towards action. He led an effort to expose a new-tech, new age approach to Civil Action through the Internet by starting an online Internet group. He has actively worked for various causes like World Hunger, notably Child Hunger, and has constantly been involved in spreading awareness about special charity websites. His efforts have been successful in igniting world’s sympathy towards the cause of Hunger in a new way and this is evident from the big charity contributions that have been a result of his work. Working with a mantra of ‘being aware, spreading awareness and then undertaking action’, he has helped people FEEL and done as much good for the society as he possibly can.
Mallika Dutt (2009-10)
Mallika Dutt has been a pioneer in the field of human rights for more than two decades. She has worked tirelessly to reduce global pandemics like violence against women and HIV/AIDS, and to remove obstacles to women’s full participation in society from the grassroots level to UN global public policy. While women’s rights have been a primary focus of her work, Mallika has also been at the forefront of advocating for immigrant rights, racial justice, and religion and peace, particularly in the aftermath of September 11th. For the last decade, Mallika’s commitment to advancing human rights has been implemented through her creative and visionary leadership of a new kind of non-profit organization, Breakthrough: building human rights culture, which she launched in 2000 with the path-breaking album and music video, Mann ke Manjeere, an album of women’s dreams. . In keeping with Mallika’s vision that men and women must be joint partners to end the pandemic of gender-based violence, Breakthrough’s Bell Bajao campaign calls on men and boys to take proactive action to intervene in situations of domestic violence. Mallika believes that an effective human rights approach is needed to uplift the voices of those who are marginalized and abused, and simultaneously involve all sectors of society to find meaningful solutions for lasting change.
Dr. Venkat Pulla (2008-09)
Dr Venkat Pulla has been a practicing social worker for the last three decades. A graduate of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Community Development, he has taken social work into varied situations with his practice. Along with a number of his colleagues, his work in Strengths-Based Practices (SbPs) concentrates on the inherent strengths of individuals, families, groups and organisations deploying peoples' personal strengths to aid their recovery and their empowerment. Dr. Venkat Pulla has founded the Brisbane Institute of Strengths Based Practices, which innovates and advances a variety of training methodologies that actively interact and manage change. He is currently the Vice President of the Australian Association of Social Workers and is a member of the accreditation panel for schools of social work in Australia. To Venkat, there is only one perspective of human rights: ‘That no one is ever abused, harmed and ever violated’
Dr. Sailesh Rao(2008-09)
Dr. Sailesh Rao is the Founder and President of Climate Healers, Inc., a non-profit corporation registered in California, USA. The primary goal of Climate Healers is to design and deploy meaningful and sustainable grassroots solutions to combat global climate change. Prior to founding Climate Healers, Dr. Rao, a serial entrepreneur, founded and led a number of successful ventures in the field of communications technologies. He was responsible for developing the world’s first single-chip real-time MPEG video encoder, the IEEE 100BASET2 Ethernet standard, and the IEEE Gigabit Ethernet on Copper (1000BASE-T) standard that is currently deployed in millions of computers worldwide. Climate Healers has designed an incentive based scheme to drive the adoption of solar cookers in communities, providing solar cookers, LED lights and mobile phones at no cost to community members. Climate Healers is funded by patrons, who are typically individuals and organizations interested in solving the climate crisis with grassroots approaches that also have the potential to empower and emancipate the 2 Billion people at the bottom of the pyramid. Their contributions can be viewed as a voluntary carbon offset mechanism and are used exclusively for the project
Pavan Sukhdev (2007-08)
Pavan Sukhdev is the Managing Director in the Global Markets division of Deutsche Bank AG, based in London. He was deeply involved in the evolution of India’s currency & interest rate markets from 1993 to 1998. He pioneered the introduction into India of an ‘Overnight Index Swap’ (OIS), now India’s most liquid interest rate derivatives instrument. He has also been deeply committed to environmental protection in India and has pursued this interest through his contribution to various organizations including Green Indian States Trust (GIST), Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) and India Environment Trust.
GLOBAL CITIZEN KARMAVEER PURASKAAR
JITMAN BASNET (2009-10)
Jit Man Basnet is a prominent Human Rights activist in Nepal. He is presently working for Lawyers Forum for Human Rights as their General Secretary. Mr.Jit Man Basnet has never hesitated in even putting his life at risk for his work. He was abducted by Maoists in 2002 and arrested by Royal Nepal Army in 2004 but that was never a hindrance to what he believes in and works for. He has continuously worked towards creating awareness about human rights and civil rights and has always stood and raised his voice against social injustice. In his campaign against impunity and for justice, he even went on Hunger Strike for victims. He believes that social justice is for human beings and that it is our responsibility to preserve justice in the society.
(Dedicated to the memory of Anita Roddick – Founder of Body Shop for beginning a business purely to lead social change and promote citizen action)
Instituted in 2008-09, it is given to a global Citizen Noble Laureate who has dedicated her/his life to the pursuit of social justice by addressing social issues around the world.
Claudia Ciesla (2009-2010)
Claudia Ciesla is a German supermodel who has featured as a face for big names like Mercedes, CULT Magazine (Italy), Oktoberfest Munich, Times of India, The Telegraph (India) and many others. She certainly believes in multi tasking as she possesses various talents like singing, dancing, sports, athletics, music and martial arts. She was awarded the Brand Ambassadorship of Lovely Professional University. Apart from being a successful model, she is a person with a humane heart, who feels very strongly about social causes. Claudia is majorly supports Khushii (Kinship for Humanitarian, Social and Holistic Intervention in India), which is a national organization working for the enlistment of poor and destitute communities in both rural and urban areas in India.
Princess Francoise (2009-2010)
Her highness, Princess Francoise is currently the CEO for the Heart for India Foundation – a foundation that feeds 1300 children everyday at a school for the poor at Namangalam, close to Chennai. The work at Namangalam School has progressed, with many projects and its success has seen it officially listed by the Government of Tamil Nadu as a “Model School” for India. Not just this, Namangalam School has now become an inspiration for the other schools of similar nature. From providing the basic amenities to children to improve their education standards, her organization has constantly worked towards supporting them. She has devised numerous charity projects under her Association of the friends of Romania that provides housing facilities for the orphaned and elderly. Along with her husband, she is now working towards supporting her charity and creative projects involving films, music and television.Lindsay Levin (2009-2010)
Lindsay is founder and Managing Partner of Leaders' Quest and founder and Trustee of the Leaders’ Quest Foundation. Lindsay's long-standing interest in the impact of inspirational leadership, combined with her passion for development issues and for bringing together leaders from different disciplines and perspectives, led her to found Leaders' Quest in 2001. This foundation has a core mission to act as a catalyst for positive change in the world by inspiring, developing and connecting leaders who want to make a difference in their organisations, communities and the wider world. By working at grassroots level with global leaders, she endeavors to enable positive change in disadvantaged communities through innovative, transformative and action-oriented leadership development programmes. It exists to improve the quality of leadership and the way in which leaders have impact. Lindsay has a keen interest in international development; she is an active supporter of several NGOs including Oxfam, Action aid and a number of Community Based Organizations in Asia and Africa. Lindsay is also a Trustee of NEF (the New Economics Foundation) a “think-and-do tank” working on issues of social justice, environmental sustainability and collective well-being.Real Wealth Creators for the Communities
Siva Cotipalli (2009-10)
DhanaX was co- founded by Siva Cotipalli in 2007, along with the team of zealous and extremely competent financial experts. After graduating from BITS-Pilani and IIM-Kozhikode and working for five years, Siva wanted to build a business that would benefit millions of poor Indians, and thus came up with the idea of DhanaX. He strongly believes that doing well and doing good need not be conflicting objectives. In a country like India, with wide, unequal distribution of wealth, Siva has built a unique platform for the “haves” of India to help “have-nots” without getting involved in charities. DhanaX is a social lending site that matches lenders with investable savings and low-income borrowers who have no access to initial capital for their enterprises. Nevertheless, the project is a for-profit social enterprise and not a non- profit organisation. Dhanax encourages people to repay loans and not to fall in the vicious circle of debts.
Rajendra Joshi (2008-09)
Mr. Rajendra Joshi has been working for 24 years in the development sector at grassroots, program, organizational and policy advocacy levels, on issues affecting the urban poor. He has formulated strategies for city and state level implementation and translated these into programs and activities, achieving measurable success. He has promoted and sustained institutions that are working at state, city and community levels. He has provided leadership to such institutions, accessed and managed resources and fostered collaborations. Mr. Rajendra Joshi established Saath as an NGO in Ahmedabad in February 1989. Under his leadership, Saath has grown to an organization that now works in 8 towns and two districts of Gujarat and 6 districts in Rajasthan. Today Saath has 180 employees and an annual budget of about Rs. 5 Crores.
Vipin Sharma(2008-09)
For the past 25 years, Vipin Sharma's work and interest has been closely linked to access to resources, capital, services and markets for the poor. As a development banker, technical resource provider and practitioner, he has been concerned with broadening the scope of development interventions to affirm the rights of poor people. His work in NABARD, at RUDA and at CARE, and more recently as the CEO of ACCESS, has been primarily focused in this direction. He played a significant role in linking the first SHGs to formal financial institutions in 1992. A significant global initiative that he led is the structuring of the Microfinance India summit. Over 25 years, by both design and default, his work has increasingly focused on the challenges that the poor face. He has been able to work at various levels - projects on the ground, technical support to governments, building national platforms and informing and influencing policy. Over 3 Million women have been benefited in small or big ways, encouraging bigger ambitions for ACCESS.
Vikram Akula(2006-07)
Vikram Akula is the CEO and founder of Swayam Krishi Sangham (SKS) Microfinance, an organization that offers microloans and insurance to about 350,000 poor women in impoverished areas in 11 states of India. He has created community wealth through effective micro finance models, where communities benefit with livelihood and enterprise at lowest interests,remembering that washers, barbers and tailors contribute more to the country's GDP (gross domestic product) than the IT sector.
Crispino Lobo (2006-07)
Crispino Lobo, being passionate about making a difference in the lives of the marginalized and under-privileged, chose to commit himself to working in rural areas. Together with Fr. Hermann Bacher, he organized the large-scale and highly successful watershed development initiative in Maharashtra called the Indo German Watershed Development Program (IGWDP). As co-founder of the Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR, founded in 1993) and the Programme Coordinator of the IGWDP, he has been instrumental in supporting and building up the capacities of 403 NGOs across the country as well as directly touching the lives of over 5,90,000 people..Crispino’s outstanding contribution has been to translate vision and passion into scalable accountability-based, outcome- oriented systems and processes. The approaches and management systems he has developed have been widely adopted across the country and are now being adopted abroad in development projects of a similar nature. He now heads the Sampada Trust and plans to extend its financial and entrepreneurship support services across the country, wherever poor women and youth need a partner in their struggle for betterment.
Dr.Marcella D’Souza(2006-07)
Dr Marcella D’Souza has been serving the people from the mountains of Peru to the arid plains of India. In the South Andes she organized a large-scale community-led, indigenous knowledge- based health care system. In Maharashtra, Marcella was responsible for developing a pedagogy for empowering women through self-help group formation and federation at the village level, as well as mainstreaming women into the decision making structures of the village. 55,000 women from 1100 villages have directly benefited from these efforts. Over 65,000 women benefit from access to financial and technical resources through the Sampada Trust, a micro-finance institution founded by her. She has been instrumental in developing a pedagogy for the empowerment of women, and creating the means for women to be creators of community wealth