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April 4, 2006 |
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SKS Founder and CEO, Vikram Akula, Receives Sand Hill
Foundation�s 2006 Social Entrepreneurship Award
Award honors those who�ve left lucrative positions in the
pursuit of social development
Hyderabad, India � SKS
Microfinance (SKS) Founder and CEO, Vikram Akula, was one of four
notable recipients of the Sand Hill Foundation�s 2006 Social
Entrepreneurship Award, given to four organizations whose chief
executive officers have left lucrative jobs in technology and other
professions to start non-profits because of their passionate belief
in a cause. The award was presented in Santa Clara, California, at
the Software 2006 Gala Benefit, an event to celebrate philanthropy
in the software industry ecosystem. Eight organizations and
individuals were awarded across three categories: Good Samaritans,
Social Entrepreneurship and Luminary.
Vikram remarked, �it is truly a honor to be celebrated among this
distinguished group of peers. This type of acknowledgement can only
make me and others more confident in our missions to strive for
social change and economic development in the world�s poorest
communities.�
Vikram was honored for his firm commitment to social development,
specifically microfinance, having left a well-paid consulting
position with McKinsey & Company in Chicago to continue building SKS.
SKS aims to empower the poor to become economically self-reliant by
providing collateral-free financial services in a sustainable
manner. Since it�s inception in 1998, SKS has delivered over $52
million in microfinance to over 200,000 women clients in some of the
poorest regions of India. In the last year alone, SKS grew by nearly
300% and has a current portfolio of $23 million with a 99% on-time
repayment rate.
Others awarded as Social Entrepreurs were Suzanne McKechnie Klahr,
the founder of Businesses United in Investing, Lending, and
Development (BUILD), a social venture which empowers youth from
low-income communities in Palo Alto through entrepreneurial
education, David Green, of Project Impact, who helped establish an
independent non-profit company in India called Aurolab that makes
inexpensive intraocular lenses - plastic implants that restore sight
to cataract patients, and John Wood, who began Room to Read, which
aims to bring education to at least 10 million children in the
developing world through schools, libraries, and scholarships.
About Sand Hill Group
Sand Hill Group provides investment and management advice to
emerging enterprise technology leaders. Sand Hill also owns
Sandhill.com � the premier destination site and resource center for
CEOs, VPs, Entrepreneurs, VCs and for members of the software
industry eco-system.
Sand Hill Group created the SHG Foundation to enable the surplus
from its annual Enterprise Conference to be donated to charity. The
goal is to build a $1 million endowment. The annual SHG Foundation
awards include grants to non-profit organizations, which help to
improve the lives of low-income women and children worldwide.
See
http://www.sandhill.com/sandhillgroup/foundation.php
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