XLRI to host the ‘7th National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship’

January 22, 2015: XLRI- Xavier School of Management to host the ‘7th National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship' from 30th January to 1st February, 2015 at XLRI Campus in Jamshedpur.

With this year's theme being - ‘The Young Changemakers: Youth as Social Entrepreneurs, the 2-day long conference aims to provide young social entrepreneurs and sector professionals a platform to share their stories, challenges and innovations - and to learn from each other and co-create new solutions and partnerships.

Explaining the theme, Prof Madhukar Shukla, Chairperson of XLRI's Fr Arrupe Center for Ecology & Sustainability and the coordinator for the conference, said, "India is a country of youths: 27% of the population is between the 20-35yrs range and 18% make up the 25-35yr segment."

"While many young people continue to look for a secure job as a career, during past few years, an increasing number amongst them show an urge to do something different, something which is personally meaningful."

"Though many of them have grown and got educated in secure urban environments, they are acutely aware of the social disparities and concerned about them. They see these "problems" as a challenge to be addressed - and as an opportunity to make a difference.

"During last few years, many of them have chosen to move out of their comfort zones, follow their passion, and have created ventures to address the social issues which concern them."

"This year's conference A highlight of the conference are the speakers, most of whom being in their 20s or early 30s", added Prof. Shukla.

The conference organized by Fr Arrupe Centre for Ecology and Sustainability (FACES) and SIGMA, XLRI's students' committee for social initiatives, shall witness senior social entrepreneurs

• Mr. Anshu Gupta (Founder & Director, GOONJ),
• Mr. Ashraf Patel (Co-Founder & Director, Pravah) and
• Mr. Rahul Nainwal (Co-Founder, MITRA ivolunteer).

Along with a host of young professionals like

• Aarti Mohan (Editor-in-Chief, The Alternative),
• Anirban Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Dhriiti Professional Services),
• Anoj Viswanathan (Co-Founder & CEO, Milaap),
• Arindam Dasgupta (CEO, Tamul Plate Marketing Company),
• Ashmeet Kapoor (Founder & CEO, I Say Organic),
• Ashutosh Kumar (Executive Director, Jagriti Yatra),
• Biswajit Bordoloi (Founder, Axum Agri),
• Dhirendra Pratap Singh (Co-Founder & President, Milaan),
• Inir Pinheiro (Co-Founder & Managing Director, Grassroutes),
• Jithin Nedumala (Founder, Make A Difference),
• Kaushlendra (Managing Trustee, Kaushalya Foundation/Knids Green),
• Kumar Ankit, (Co-Founder & Executive Director, Green Leaf Energy),
• Malavika Sharma (Founder, Avika),
• Naveen Krishna (Founder & Managing Director, SMV Wheels),
• Pankaj Jain (Principal, Impact Law Ventures),
• Piyush Jaju (Co-Founder & CEO, Onergy),
• Rustam Sengupta (Founder & CEO, Boond),
• Saloni Malhotra (Founder & Director, DesiCrew & Procaftstore),
• Shashank Kumar & Manish Kumar (Co-Founders, Farm & Farmers Foundation),
• Shweta Chari (Founder & CEO, Toybank - Giving Back the Right to Childhood),
• Sombodhi Ghosh (Co-Founder, Aakar Innovations),
• Sonal Kapoor (Founder & CEO, Protsahan India Foundation),
• Sujit Mahapatra (Founder & Volunteer, Bakul Foundation) among other dignitaries.

XLRI- Xavier School of Management has been organising the National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship under the aegis of Fr Arrupe Centre for Ecology & Sustainability & SIGMA since 2009.

The purpose of this initiative has been to showcase innovative social entrepreneurship ventures by individual entrepreneurs, NGOs, corporate CSR initiatives, and government agencies, and to provide a common platform for sharing experiences, issues and concerns.

The Conference aims to provide a platform for leading Social Entrepreneurs, NGOs/CBOs to share their work, network & collaborate, and to promote social entrepreneurship among students and the community.

The conference is attended by about 170-200 social entrepreneurs, development sector professionals, academicians and other stakeholders.

About XLRI:
XLRI-Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur is a premier, private management institute in India founded in 1949 by Fr Quinn Enright, S.J. in the ‘steel city' of Jamshedpur. For more information, visit www.xlri.ac.in