Women Shine in Global Competition for Social Enterprises

"Your Big Year," an international talent program run by Smaller Earth had eight women among sixteen finalists this year. The program invites young and aspiring social entrepreneurs from around the world for a competition with a chance to win a coveted placement for a year. The competition is run by Chris Arnold, an entrepreneur based in Liverpool, UK and this year it was sponsored by Mazaars.

The competition received more than 60,000 entries this year from 221 countries. Sixteen finalists chose from fourteen countries were flown to England where they participated in a week-long program that included media, business and social enterprise challenges. The competition included pitching to eminent personalities such as Sir Terry Leahy, Sir Richard Branson and Martha Lane Fox.

The final winner of the program was Uganda's Charles Batte, a 24-year old social entrepreneur. Charles will now get the opportunity to undergo a life changing experience for a year that will see him take up the role of an international ambassador for social entrepreneurship. Charles, at the young age of 20, set up a farm in Uganda that produces beans and maize. The farm now provides food to thousands of people and employs 50 people.

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Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.