Enactus an international non-profit organization of students with a focus on community empowerment through outreach projects and entrepreneurial action has announced plans to reach out to over 50 corporate partners in India in 2016 from the current 30 partners which include leading companies such as KPMG, Walmart, Cargill, HDFC, HSBC, Mahindra, Coca Cola, Unilever, Tata Group, HP, Syntel, Zensar and others. This was announced by Dr. Alvin Rohrs, President and CEO, Enactus Worldwide during his recent visit to India. Around the world Enactus is supported by over 400 major corporations.
In India, with more than 3,000 active students participating in the Enactus team in over 97 college campuses, Enactus India is ranked third in size in the Enactus Global network of 36 country operations. Globally, Enactus has more than 70,000 active student members spread across 1,700 universities worldwide. Enactus India has more than 3000 student participants across more than 97 college campuses across the country. Dr Rohrs also announced the elevation and induction of Richard Rekhy, CEO of KPMG in India and Chairman-Enactus India National Advisory Board into the Enactus Worldwide Board of Directors.
Commenting on his visit Dr. Alvin Rohrs said, “I am very excited to be in India which has become a hub of student entrepreneurship especially in community development projects. This reflects our guiding philosophy at Enactus that human progress depends on our ability to tap into the entrepreneurial spirit that lives within each of us and channelize our talents, passions and ideas toward creating a better world. What excites our students and our business partners even more is the belief that solutions exist even for society’s most intractable problems. By coming up with innovative solutions to tackle problems like poverty and lack of clean drinking water, our students are inspiring the rest of us to get past the cynicism that exists and to just get out there, work together.”
According to Richard Rekhy, “Enactus offers a unique form of corporate social responsibility where a business leader or corporate house is helping in mentoring the youth of the country to become Entrepreneurs with a social objective. The Enactus student network also provides a steady pool of fresh talent with on-ground experience to corporates. Over the last few years, we’re seeing increasing participation from companies and sponsors across India and I am confident that India will play a significant role in Enactus Worldwide’s growth and success in the coming years.”
Farhan Pettiwala, President, Enactus India said, “Enactus enables students to get a taste of the real world, while they are still protected in the college environment. When corporates support Enactus, they are helping to develop more effective and socially responsible leaders and entrepreneurial personality traits in young people.”
Dr Alvin Rohrs also met several student teams of Enactus from different college campuses during his visit to India. Students presented their projects which touch the lives of transgender and unemployed women of the slums of Jahangirpuri and JJ Basti areas of New Delhi. Project Transcreations aims at financial upliftment, educational advancement and social inclusiveness of members of the transgender community whereas Project Aradhaga aims at helping unemployed women of the community.
Enactus has globally partnered with United Nations to support in achieving the 17 SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals), and more than 5,000 projects being done by 70,000 students touch one or more of these 17 Goals (SDG’s). Going forward, Dr Alvin Rohrs and Farhan Pettiwala, President, Enactus India, have a mission of further aligning more than 300 projects in India with every UN SDG Goal from Women Empowerment to Food Security, from “No Poverty” to “Clean Water and Sanitation”, thereby supporting the WORLD in becoming a better place to live for everyone. The Global Goals serve as a framework for the sustainable change which Enactus has been working to create for over 40 years now.
Source : Newsvoir
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