Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 for Nepalese Social Entrepreneurs

After an inspiring start last year, Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Awards 2012 has officially begun today with the ‘Call for Applications/Nominations’. This award, sponsored by Surya Nepal Private Limited, organised by ChangeFusion Nepal and supported by National Business Initiative, is the only event of its kind in Nepal. It gives social entrepreneurs a way to positively impact the communities in which they live.The aim of this initiative is to encourage social entrepreneurship at the grassroots level as well as to support projects which create positive social/environmental change and are sustainable, innovative, scalable and credible. Last year, Surya Nepal Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award (SNASEA) recognized five such winners for their achievements and encouraged others to follow these examples of individuals creating social, environmental and economic impact.

Chhahari Production Pvt. Ltd., one of the winners of the Asha Social Entrepreneurship Award last year, is a project that empowers women through capacity building and income generation training. Selected from among 66 applicants, the project staff say the Award not only gave them the much needed financial aid, but also built public awareness about the project and its work through media coverage.

The deadline for receiving applications is 10 September 2012 and individuals can either apply themselves or nominate deserving social entrepreneur/s. The eligibility criteria are:

Applicants must (No age restrictions)

1. Be Resident in Nepal

2. Possess the passion to create a social impact through innovation

3. Have demonstrated entrepreneurial potential

Applicants’ project/s should

1. Benefit a deprived community or the public at large in Nepal

2. Have the ability to develop a model capable of scaling-up and of being reproduced by other entrepreneurs

3. Have an income-generation component, and show capacity to sustain through their own income streams

Applicants’ project/s should not

1. Be continuation of an existing organisation that was not initiated by the applicant

2. Involve political campaigning or advancement of religion

3. Involve activities outside the law or anything that fosters ethnic, religious or commercial disharmony

4. Be used to undertake academic qualifications

For more information, visit http://changefusionnepal.org/index.php/intro/ImageList/100

# Previous Year’s recipients are eligible to apply but have to demonstrate value addition or changes

##Detailed eligibility and selection criteria available at website above.