Hand in Hand Academy for Social Entrepreneurship

Hand in Hand Academy for Social Entrepreneurship is a group entity of Hand in Hand India, established to impart academic knowledge and practical experience in building sustainable businesses at the “bottom of the pyramid”. The vision of the academy is to create entrepreneurs who will find solutions to societal problems through sustainable social businesses. The mission is to offer a mix of academic programmes to passionate individuals and equip them with tools and insights for creating sustainable enterprises that fulfill social priorities.

Hand in Hand Academy for Social Entrepreneurship presents the Hand in Hand’s Awards for Social Entrepreneurship 2018 for the few selected social entrepreneurs whose innovations have already had significant, proven impact on some of the most pressing social problems, and proved its replicability & scalability. Many social enterprises (Farmers Producer Companies, MFIs with Social goals, Fintech and so on) have innovated replicable models and created a larger impact in the society. This Hand in Hand Academy for Social Entrepreneurship Award will identify the best Social entrepreneurs and will recognize their contributions during Global Social Entrepreneurship Programme (GSEP) 2018.

About GSEP: GSEP is the flagship programme of Hand in Hand Academy.

GSEP – 2016 : In 2016, GSEP was conducted at Chennai and the programme was led by Prof.Kash Rangan of Harvard Business School, USA. 58 participants from 5 countries participated in the programme.

GSEP – 2018: This will be led by Prof. Jasjit Singh, INSEAD, Singapore. This will be a five day program from 26th Feb to 2nd Mar 2018 at Kancheepuram. The program theme will be "Building High Impact Social Initiatives" and it will be a combination of input sessions, discussion on case studies, round table discussions and exposure visits. During the GSEP, the winners of the Best Social Entrepreneur Award will be invited to share their experiences.

i. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

The following is the eligibility criteria for applying for the award.

1. Social Entrepreneur:

The organization is led by a visionary social entrepreneur whose values are embedded in the culture of the organization.

2.Period of Operation:

Minimum two full years of field operations

3.Impact:

The organization’s innovation is positioned to effect policy, behavior, and/or infrastructure/systems change and show evidence of significant social impact to the society already achieved. The organization has a sound and viable business model achieving long-term growth and sustainability, with the fulfillment of Social Goals.

4.Partnership:

The organization has partnerships in place to optimize its model and execute its mission on a larger scale. It has brought in regional, national and/or other key players as its partners in its ecosystem.

5.Innovation:

The organization has an alternate approach to solve social and/or environmental problems and has implemented innovative solutions to address the social problems.

6.Sector:

Any Sector such as Agri., Education, Health, Environment, Skill Development, Technology, Governance and so on.

ii. How to apply for the Award:

Step- 1 : Those interested in being considered as candidates shall complete the application form and submit additional information such as a Curriculum Vitae and a recent annual report of the organization. Information gathered in the selection process will remain confidential.

Step-2: Experts will review the information forms submitted by Candidates. Those who qualify will be invited for further information sharing. At this stage, further information is gathered through e-mail/ phone call/ skype call. This due diligence step enables the selection of the finalists.

Step 3 : Finalists will be selected by an external committee.

Step 4 : Finalist will be recognized in the GSEP (26 Feb – 2 Mar 2018, at Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu) with Hand in Hand India’s Social Entrepreneurship award for the year 2018.

iii.Last date for apply : 5th February 2018.
iv. Submission of application:

The application may be submitted either as hard copy or soft copy. The hard copy of the Application should be sent to The Managing Trustee, Hand in Hand Academy for Social Entrepreneurship, No. 33, 48th Street, 9th Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai – 600 083 (or) the soft copy to: unnikrishnan.r@hihindia.org.

Download the Application Here.