The results of the Powering Economic Opportunity: Create a World That Works competition, co-hosted by eBay Foundation and Ashoka Changemakers, were announced on Sep.14. There were five winners, out of the nearly 900 entries received from 83 countries. This was the highest number of entries ever received for any Changemakers.com competition. The winners include some of the best innovative market-based solutions. These solutions are helping the underprivileged and disadvantaged people to gain employment, by providing them with new employment opportunities.
Nuru Energy to Empower: Rural Energy Entrepreneurship in India and East Africa is amongst the winning entries. Nuru was founded by Sameer Hajee. It recommends replacing kerosene as a source of lighting for the two billion people who lack electricity. It also aims to create jobs for those living in poverty. Nuru helps local entrepreneurs to manage their own microfranchises, helping them earn more than $3 per day in profit. This amount is almost three to four times the national average, and it helps the entrepreneurs to come out of the bracket of poverty.
The other winners of the competition are: Solidarium Fair Trade (Brazil), Grameen Foundation: Mobile Micro-Franchising in Indonesia (Indonesia), Fundacion Paraguaya: The Financially Self-Sufficient School Model: Economically Empowering Education for Low-Income Youth (Paraguay), Twin Cities RISE!: Nonprofit Innovation through Pay-for-Performance Funding (USA)
John Donahoe, President and CEO, eBay Inc., said, “It was an honor to participate as a judge in the competition, and eBay Foundation and eBay are proud to support the winners as they spread the impact of their innovations around the globe. By advancing social innovations such as Nuru Energy and the other competition winners, we can help unlock economic opportunities for people who otherwise would not be able to participate in the global economy.”
The winners were selected by public voting via a new Facebook application and the Changemakers.com platform, as well as by expert judges.
