On the occasion of International Women’s Day, here is a list of 9 women achievers from Bengaluru who are finalists shortlisted for the Namma Bengaluru Foundation Awards for the year 2015.
The Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) is an independent organistation and inclusive social platform founded in 2009, which is committed to the betterment of the city through collective social engagement.
Twenty-year-old Aishwarya Hebbar has made over 21,000 kids happier through her project Let's Write Together. She collects pens discarded by school and college students around the city, and restores them so that kids who can't afford stationery can write.
Ashwini Angadi manages a trust that runs the Belaku Academy, a school for the visually impaired, working with differently abled children with an aim of integrating them with the mainstream. She has been chosen as the UN Special Envoy to receive the Youth Courage Award for Education and the Queen of England's Young Leader Award in 2015.
Suparna Ganguly ended the cruel practice of electrocution of stray dogs and co-founded Compassion Unlimited Plus Action - CUPA, an organization that took over the Koramangala dog-pound and over the years helped create a more humane world for strays.
Gloria Benny put together a network of volunteers called Make a Difference (MAD) who would mentor children with skills and confidence and equip them for life after they left the shelter homes at the age of 18.
Dr Rohini Katoch Sepat is the Director of the State Forensic Sciences Lab and has been instrumental in enabling the police force with technological advances such as the iBeat app and CCTV cameras on police vehicles to help the cops serve communities better.
Geetha Ramanujam set up Kathalaya, The House of Stories, with a vision of making positive social change in education through storytelling. The International Academy of Storytelling set up by Kathalaya has trained over 70,000 people to beome storytellers and touched the lives of over 5 lakh children over the years.
Prarthana Kaul started Giftabled, an e-commerce venture that sells both gifts made by the disabled and merchandise for the disabled, thereby transforming many lives.
Ashwani is a news reporter with RajTV, who brought Mavallipura landfill garbage crisis into focus. As a result of her efforts, health camps were conducted and drinking water facilities were improved.
Lokayukta SP Sonia Narang's strict action concerning extortion calls allegedly made to Government employees for bribes in return for immunity in corruption cases resulted in the filing of 5 FIRs and 11 arrests.