Media Release
Bengaluru, Mar 15: The 2021 SJIM Eminent Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, instituted by St. Joseph’s Institute of Management (SJIM) Bengaluru, has been awarded to Teach for India (TFI).
The year 2021 marks the 25th year since the AICTE approved SJIM’s flagship 2-year fulltime postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM). To commemorate this significant milestone, SJIM has instituted an annual SJIM Eminent Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Speaking about why this award was instituted, Fr Dr Manoj D’Souza SJ, director of SJIM, explained, “For over five decades now, St Joseph’s Institute of Management has contributed to business education, research and management development in Bengaluru, while always emphasizing ethics and social responsibility. In this silver jubilee year of our flagship program, we wanted to establish a recurring award that would recognize this very ethos in the industry.”
Each year, the SJIM Eminent Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award will recognize a sound business model that has impactfully addressed a social or environmental injustice. Awardees receive a citation and cash award. The jury evaluates applications based on the business model’s novelty, financial soundness, sustainability, scalability and embeddedness in the ecosystem, measured impact and learning, and perhaps most importantly, on the values embedded in the business model.
This year, the jury decided that Teach for India (TFI) best meets these criteria. TFI is an organization headquartered in Mumbai that primarily offers a two-year fellowship programme for individuals to serve as full-time teachers to children from low-income communities in under-resourced schools all over India. These fellows go on to start their own organizations or are leaders in and beyond the education sector. As a result, one in ten Indian children are currently reached by TFI alumni.
The 2021 SJIM Eminent Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award will be presented during SJIM’s grand silver jubilee celebrations to be held on March 19 at 5:30 pm. The chief guest of the programme is Prof Sahasrabudhe, AICTE chairman. Kamal Bali, MD, Volvo and N A Harris, MLA, Shanthinagar constituency, will be guests of honour.