Schwab Foundation adjudges Chetna Vijay Sinha as Social Entrepreneur of the Year

The Schwab Foundation for Social
Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum, in
partnership with Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, announced Chetna Vijay Sinha as
winner of the 2013 Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY)-India award.

Sinha was awarded for managing
three institutions – Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank, a rural mobile school,
and a chamber of commerce. The bank is a women-owned rural cooperative bank
that extends a range of financial services, the school provides
entrepreneurship training, and the chamber facilitates market and policy
linkages.

The award was presented by
Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Special commendations were given by Professor
Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum, to all the
finalists.
Over 200 individuals had
nominated themselves for the ninth annual Social Entrepreneur of the Year and
four finalists were selected after several stages of assessment.

An independent
panel of judges includedSudha Pillai,
former member secretary, Planning Commission of India; Shobhana Bhartia,
chairperson and editorial director, HT Media; Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Harish
Hande, managing director, Selco Solar Lights; Hilde Schwab, chairperson and
co-founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship;Kavita Ramdas, representative, Ford
Foundation; Anshu Gupta, founder and director, Goonj, India (last year’s winner);
and Rohini Nilekani, chairperson, Arghyam Foundation.