EdelGive Foundation launches the EdelGive Social Innovation Honours 2010

Company Brief

Mumbai, November 30, 2009

The EdelGive Social Innovation Honours 2010 launched by EdelGive Foundation, the philanthropic subsidiary of Edelweiss Capital Ltd and Kubera Partners, a US based private equity firm, is now inviting applications from social sector organisations across India.  These awards aim to identify and reward organisations that are innovating to empower women in India.

The total prize money is Rs. 50 lacs across the five categories of health & well being, education, livelihoods, social and cultural rights and governance. The selected organisations can use the funds either for their on-going projects or to start new projects.

"We launched these awards last year and were excited by both the quality and number of entries we received. So, we have decided to broaden the scope of the awards to include additional themes like women’s social and cultural rights and their participation in governance, as we believe that these are critical areas that need to be focused on.  Additionally, organisations who qualify for the awards will be eligible for hands-on capacity building support from EdelGive Foundation” said Ms. Vidya Shah, Executive Director and Head, EdelGive Foundation.

The recipient organizations will be selected after a four stage evaluation process which includes an initial application, short listing by an internal jury, visits by a field assessor and final selection by an external jury of eminent persons including Indu Shahani, Sheriff of Mumbai, Zia Mody, leading corporate lawyer, Rama Bijapurkar, renowned thought leader on market strategy and consumer affairs, Vineet Rai, social investor and Ramanan Raghavendran, Managing Partner of Kubera Partners.

The deadline for receipt of applications is December 21st, 2009, which will be followed by the short listing of entities. The selection process will be supported by Ernst and Young as process advisors and official tabulators and Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Institute of Rural Management Anand, as field assessors.

The winners of the Edelweiss Social Innovation Honours 2010 will be announced on March 4, 2010 to coincide with International Women’s Day later in that week. A research report on the social innovations that are attempting to change the status of women, will be released subsequently.

Last year, 120 organizations participated across 17 states working in the education, health and employability sectors. Total prize money of INR 36 lakh was awarded to three winners and six runners-up. To apply for the awards log on to http://www.edelgive.org or call Mr. Gilroy on 9869526170

For further information, please contact:

Sampark PR

Ravindra

Mobile: 9833176249