New Delhi: Pratham, India’s largest education NGO, will walk away with $250,000 on Tuesday, 23 March.
The money comes in the form of the Henry R. Kravis Prize in Leadership, which recognizes extraordinary leadership in the non-profit sector, and will be presented to Pratham at a ceremony conducted at the Museum of Metropolitan Art in New York.
Pratham, which was established in 1994, reports having reached 34 million children across India through its Read India programme, which works with governments and communities to improve the reading, writing, and basic arithmetic skills of children aged 6-14.
“We are delighted that a very high profile selection committee picked us after a thorough process without involving any of the organizations in the running, Of course, the award is for what we have done in the past and there are many bigger challenges ahead,” said Madhav Chavan in an email interview with Mint.
“There is a consensus in the organization to set aside the prize money for a leadership program within Pratham for our second and third rank leaders so that their horizons broaden and they are able to deal with bigger issues and problems with higher levels of skills.”
While the prize is usually awarded to outstanding individuals, it can also be awarded to organizations. Past recipients of the Kraviz Prize are: Roy Prosterman, the inaugural recipient (2006), founder of the Rural Development Institute; Fazle Abed (2007), founder of BRAC; the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) (2008); and Dr. Sakena Yacoobi (2009), founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning.
