New Delhi, July 18, 2021: Top academicians from premier institutes like IIMs, IRMA, TISS and renowned CSR experts will form the illustrious Jury Panel at TheCSRUniverse COVID Response Impact Awards 2021, to find best COVID-related initiatives which made significant contribution to emerging social needs amidst the COVID pandemic.
The power-packed jury for selecting the best social projects includes Dr Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bangalore; Dr Himanshu Rai, Director, Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Indore; Dr Umakant Dash, Director, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA); and Prof Shalini Bharat, Director, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.
In addition to the top academicians, the renowned social sector experts in the jury panel include Mr Joseph Nixon, Ex-President & Chief Operating Officer, SBI Foundation; and Mr Sanjay Sinha, Managing Director, M-CRIL.
The nomination for the award is open till July 30. The best COVID-response initiatives will be recognised during a national-level COVID Response Impact Awards 2021 to be held in the second week of September. Click here for more details and nomination process.
The Award has been constituted by TheCSRUniverse, a niche social sector knowledge platform, to recognise corporates, social organisations, NGOs and CSR consultants who demonstrated courage, conviction and commitment to support emerging social needs through their COVID response initiatives.
According to TheCSRUniverse Award organising committee, the best social sector projects that were launched in response to the COVID pandemic and executed after March 2020 will be identified and recognised at the TheCSRUniverse COVID Response Impact Awards 2021.
Ruchika Kumar, Editor, TheCSRUniverse said, "This initiative is aimed at finding, recognising and disseminating the best CSR projects conceptualised and executed during COVID pandemic."
"As COVID presented huge challenges for Corporates and NGOs/implementation agencies, the social sector emerged much stronger out of this crisis by contributing big time to changing social needs. This was the time when the quick relief measures and extraordinary efforts exhibited by corporates went beyond CSR policy expectations. This Award will bring due recognition to the strategic approach and innovative ideas of corporates, implementation partners and other stakeholders towards project execution during COVID and highlight their achievements so that it helps social sector organisations to learn from best practices in the domain," Kumar said.
According to Kumar, a multi-layered selection process led by the expert jury will pick the best COVID-related projects under each of the following themes:
- COVID Response Impact in Education
- COVID Response Impact in Health
- COVID Response Impact in Skill Development
- COVID Response Impact in Women and Child Development
- COVID Response Impact in Food and Nutrition
- COVID Response Impact in Research & Development
- COVID Response Impact in Microfinance
- COVID Response Impact in Awareness Campaigns
The awards will be announced in the second week of September, 2021. The corporate and social sector leaders will also be sharing insights on their unique initiatives in the run-up to the award announcement.