Girls’ education, sexual violence, prison reform, financial inclusion, and disaster relief are issues where the 2018 awardees have developed cost-effective, scalable services.

Dr. Urvashi Sahni, Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF), India is one of the winners of the 2018 Social Entrepreneurs of the Year Award.  She runs the Study Hall Educational Foundation where organization runs a network of nine types of schools and programmes, catering to girls, disabled children, rural youth and children outside the formal school system. To date, the foundation has worked with more than 900 government schools and trained 5,000 government teachers, reaching an estimated 500,000 children.

Talking about the award Dr. Sahni said, “I am very grateful to the Schwab Foundation for the recognition.” 

“Social Entrepreneurs leverage the power of market forces and business principles to solve social problems in ways that benefit the marginalized and the poor,” said Hilde Schwab, Chairperson, and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.  Adding to the point Schwab said, “Their work is often carried out in areas where government and the private sector are unable to achieve meaningful outcomes and involves considerable creativity coupled with pragmatism.”

The 11 organizations and 12 individuals honored in 2018 become part of the broader Schwab Foundation community of 350 outstanding social entrepreneurs from around the world. The work of the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurs is integrated into the World Economic Forum’s events and initiatives aimed at scaling-up market-based solutions for global challenges.