Avtar Announces Winners of CSR Excellence Award for Social Inclusion of Women & Male Ally Legacy Awards 2022 as part of its flagship DEI conference

Avtar Announces Winners of CSR Excellence Award for Social Inclusion of Women & Male Ally Legacy Awards 2022 as part of its flagship DEI conference

New Delhi | Hyderabad | Mumbai, November 17, 2022: Avtar Group, India’s pioneers in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Consulting, announced the winners of the 2022 Avtar & Seramount CSR Excellence Award for Social Inclusion of Women and Male Ally Legacy Awards (MALA). The Awards were announced at the Avtar and Seramount Best of the Best Conference 2022, India’s most respected conference on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

Centered on the theme ‘Business is Good’, the Best of the Best conference 2022 brought together stakeholders across industry sectors where conscious efforts taken by the businesses in the domain of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, a very experiential tenet of Human Resources, will set the leader apart from the laggard.

The Avtar & Seramount CSR Excellence Award for Social Inclusion of Women to recognize and laud CSR initiatives by companies for the impact created for empowering underprivileged women and girl children, economically. This award was conferred upon Cairn Oil and Gas, Vedanta Limited for the project ‘Mission Nand Ghar’.  Through the project, the company ensured that women undergo entrepreneurship training and skill enhancement to start their micro-enterprise. Extensive training and credit linkages have also been provided to increase their contribution to the Indian economy.  The beneficiaries have been equipped with a holistic support system to promote growth on a personal and professional scale.

The Male Ally Legacy Award celebrates male allies who have spearheaded change in the mindsets and attitudes towards women at the workplace.

Speaking at the event today, Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group, said, “The CSR and MALA awards stand testament to the progress made by companies on various spheres of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – social commitment & nurturing culture. They have been raising the bar and that is good news. These awards identify role models across India for more organizations to be inspired by and follow suit.  Avtar aims to make workplaces more inclusive and sensitive to every workforce segment and such recognitions help us acknowledge exemplary work.”   

Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation Managing Director, J. Innocent Divya, presented the awards to the winners and appreciated the efforts taken by Avtar for bringing the focus- Diversity, Equity & Inclusivity to organisations.  She said, “Diverse and inclusive workplaces earn deeper trust and more commitment from their employees. It is a delight to watch Avtar and Seramount collaboratively take this effort to honor the companies and set an example and encourage others to be the leaders of the present and future. Appreciating the impressive number of women leader’s at on the winner’s list, she stressed on the importance of equity at workplace which offers proportional representation and opportunities for all.’ 

2022 Avtar & Seramount CSR Excellence Award for Social Inclusion of Women – Winner

Cairn Oil and Gas, Vedanta Limited

2022 Avtar & Seramount CSR Excellence Award for Social Inclusion of Women – Choice of Jury Winners (Company names listed alphabetically)

  • Accenture Solutions Private Limited
  • The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

2022 Male Ally Legacy Awards (MALA) – Winner

  • Anantha Radhakrishnan (Radha), CEO and MD- Infosys BPM, Infosys Limited

2022 Male Ally Legacy Awards (MALA) – Choice of Jury Winners (Listed alphabetically as per company names)

  • Deep Kalra, Founder & Co-Chairman, MakeMyTrip India Pvt. Ltd.
  • R. Anandakrishnan, President – HR & IT, TVS Motor Company Ltd 

Appendix:

Puthri Award for Excellence in CSR

Title Winner: Cairn Oil and Gas, Vedanta Limited

Project: Mission Nand Ghar

Mission Nand Ghar is committed to the Prime Minister’s national vision of providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Nand Ghars ensure that women undergo entrepreneurship training, skill enhancement to start their micro-enterprise with extensive skill training and credit linkages, increasing their contribution towards the Indian economy. They are equipped with a holistic support system that aims to promote growth on a personal and professional scale. Nand Ghars, thus, have an excellent opportunity to transform the lives of over millions of women and children in the coming years.

Today more than 3000 Nand Ghars are running across 12 states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Odisha are a testimony to our commitment of constructing 4000 centres.

Choice of Jury award: Accenture Solutions Private Limited

Project: The Women Entrepreneurs Access Connect Transform – WEACT

WeAct provides structured hand-holding support to women nano and micro-entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs can access market information and financial guidance, connect with peers, and attend appropriate training to transform their businesses.  Entrepreneurs are being nurtured with the principles of building trust, loyalty, and care for their employees, customers, vendors, and communities making it not just successful but also responsible. WeACT embeds sustainability practices as its core business model. Upcycling & plastic-free packaging as circular economy practices are some of the differentiators. The WeAct platform is a unique technology solution with an inbuilt innovative diagnostic framework to assess the diverse business needs of women entrepreneurs across rural India and customize solutions for them. It tracks their progress, measures successes, and provides a snapshot of their growth journey.

Choice of Jury award: HSBC India

Project: Mann Deshi Business School and Financial Literacy Schools on Wheels (The Udyogini Initiative)

HSBC India partnered with Mann Deshi Foundation in 2006-2007 for the Mann Deshi Business School for Rural Women (the Udyogini initiative), to provide support for training under-privileged women in financial literacy, computer literacy, and enhancing livelihoods. As Mann Deshi Foundation gradually demonstrated a strong impact that was evidenced through the change in income generation, participation, access and control over financial resources for rural women, HSBC and Mann Deshi Foundation worked on scaling these initiatives. To take forward the initiative for rural women with limited mobility, the Business School on Wheels was initiated. Mann Deshi Foundation consulted with HSBC to design localized innovations in the implementation model, such as providing training opportunities and digital literacy inputs for women entrepreneurs.

  

Male Ally Legacy Awards

Title Winner:  Anantha Radhakrishnan (Radha), CEO and MD at Infosys BPM

Radha has been a quiet strength and patient ally of DEI at Infosys BPM. Apart from strengthening quantifiable metrics on gender diversity, he also has added impetus to softer aspects such as bringing in transparency across selection criteria, giving a fair chance for diversity in leadership-hiring and personally mentoring women within the leadership council of Infosys BPM.   Today, the leadership council of Infosys BPM has a third of women leaders from across global DCs who actively lead and execute key strategic initiatives globally. Under his guidance and leadership, there are also specific DEI assessment programs (both for new joiners and existing employees) that have been rolled out where employees can test their DEI quotient.

Choice of Jury AwardR. Anandakrishnan, President – HR & IT, TVS Motor Company Ltd 

R AnandaKrishnan has been instrumental in making the transformation journey possible.  AnandaKrishnan is a strong advocate of the fact that an organisation’s success depends on its ability to embrace diversity, people from diverse background meet, they naturally create an environment that encourages innovation.

  • More leaders at TVS place a high value on increasing diversity within their companies. Currently, AnandaKrishnan is driving towards targeting a higher female ratio across all levels through recruitments to maintain a healthy gender ratio. 
  • He has facilitated Unnati-Second Career Programme for Women Professionals, Leadership Development for women in the organisation with focus on mentoring, coaching as well as career development.

Choice of Jury Award:

Deep Karla, Founder & Co-Chairman, MakeMyTrip India Pvt. Ltd. 

Deep has been the torchbearer of the Diversity and Inclusion agenda for building healthier and happier workplaces in the industry. Some of the Programs that help drive Diversity & Inclusion at MMT, under Deep’s leadership are:   

  • Women as Business Arm– MMT has a special sales channel called the Holiday Experts, where women on career breaks work from home to sell Holiday products to our patrons. With more than 650 women this channel has served as one of the very profitable and lucrative career options for many women in the market
  • Back to Future Program– MMT launched a special Work internship program for Women in technology who are willing to return to work after long career breaks due to personal reasons. This program is now 4 years old and has helped over 40 women get back to their professional lives.  
  • Women Council– A special women’s council that conducts an array of initiatives like Women Hi Potential mentoring, Pink Steel, Women Only technology hiring drives, Health & Safety for women, and other related initiatives, etc. with the target of retention & women’s advancement.   

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