YEAR ENDER 2016-17

1. Bhushan Trivedi- Pico Energy-

Mumbai-based Bhushan Trivedi’s social venture Picoenergy has created Helios—a solar-powered product that provides both a light source as well as mobile charging points. Currently, Picoenergy works with residents in Mumbai’s Dahisar area where more than 20,000 people live without electricity. Bhushan Trivedi’s Pico Energy addresses the energy needs of the underprivileged in urban India through sustainable energy sources.

2. Aditya Kulkarni- CareNx Innovations-

Aditya Kulkarni, Co-founder and Executive Director at CareNx Innovations, based in Mumbai, has created CareMother Mobile Pregnancy care App. This endeavour won CareNx Solutions the first prize of $25,000, for addressing the important issue of pregnancy care in the country. Aditya Kulkarni’s CareNx Innovations is using state-of-the-art technology to influence one of the most important health indicators of society, reaching out to all sections of society.

3. Arya Mahajan- I Village Social Solutions-

Arya quit her corporate career at Ernst & Young India, and joined her family at Pardada Pardadi Educational Society (PPES), an NGO working towards educating girls in Anupshahr. Arya started I Village Social Solutions, a social enterprise, to ensure that underprivileged women of Anupshahr find employment and the products made by them reach far and wide.As of 2016, I Village has helped 150 women become economically self-reliant. Arya Mahajan’s I -Village Solutions focuses on the gender equity through economic empowerment in one of India’s most socially backward areas.

4. Yogesh Kumar- Even Cargo-

Even Cargo trains and employs women from underprivileged backgrounds to work in logistics and ferry packages on scooters across India’s capital. Since it started out in May 2016, the company has trained nearly 100 women aged between 19 and 24, from various localities of Delhi. Most of them have only completed high school-level education and are from families with an average annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh. Yogesh Kumar’ s Even Cargo has created an innovative employment platform for urban women which seeks to challenge existing gender stereotypes.

5. Nawneet Ranjan- Dharavi Diary- Slum Innovation project.

Dharavi Diary, a slum innovation project for girls in the Naya Nagar neighbourhood, was started in 2014 by filmmaker Nawneet Ranjan. Using the open-source tool, MIT App Inventor, the group, now fondly called the Tech Girls of Dharavi, has developed mobile apps to tackle everyday problems.The Dharavi Diary project started with a small group of 15 girls but now has over 200 children, including several boys. Nawneet Ranjan’s Dharavi Diary has used technology in an urban low socio-economic setting as an innovative intervention for gender equity, which is one its kind.