Events

SPJIMR hosted The Social Impact Awards 2022 (SIA) on November 1, 2022. Organised by the Department of Corporate Citizenship (DoCC), the awards acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of social sector organisations and enterprises to society.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Founder of Grameen Bank, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, was the keynote speaker at the award ceremony. Other category speakers included: Alpana Mallick from Teach for India, Akhil Paul, Founder Sense India International Chetana Gala Sinha, Founder and CEO Mandesi Bank Harish Hande, CEO Selco Foundation, Neeraj Jain, Country Director and South Asia Director PATH and Siva Devireddy, Founder and Managing Director Gocoop Solutions.

Director of the Department of Corporate Citizenship (DoCC) at SPJIMR, Dr Chandrika Parmar shared the underlying belief that underpins the award and the organisational process followed. “SIA is anchored in the belief that management education needs to be sensitive to the social concerns that plague our society. That managers of today, to be wise leaders tomorrow, need to be both aware of societal issues and be ready to serve in locations where society most needs them. It is anchored in understanding wicked problems and looking at both existing and potential solutions for those problems.” she said.

Speaking at the event, Prof. Yunus said: “Poverty is not created by poor people. It is created by the system, so design institutions that help poverty disappear”. He shared examples of various social businesses whose starting point was to find solutions to existing problems in society. He elaborated on how technology can be a blessing or a curse, depending on who’s using it. He emphasised that the time for action is “now” and urged the youth to strive for a world of three zeros: zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emissions.

SPJIMR Dean Prof. Varun Nagaraj addressed the gathering and advised the audience to focus on innovative solutions to make a meaningful social impact.

Highlights

• Over 250 Applications received from organisations
• 70 organisations shortlisted for semi-finals
• 29 organisations shortlisted for the final round
• Attended by over 600 viewers across the country
• Jury members from over 45 social sector, corporate and academic

Winners

The Social Impact Awards 2022 winners across six categories are: