Kolkata B-schoolers Vishal Sharma and Nikunj Agarwal’s project shortlisted for the 2020 Flourish Prizes from among 824 entries from across the globe

~ 76 stories from 35 universities in 17 countries under the guidance of 42 different professors made it to the list of The 2020 Flourish Prizes Finalists. Three stories from GIM have been shortlisted among the 76 finalists~

Kolkata,  April 2020: Kolkata B-schoolers Vishal Sharma and Nikunj Agarwal along with their teams from the B-school Goa Institute of Management (GIM) have been shortlisted for the prestigious 2020 Flourish Prizes from among 824 entries from across the globe

Goa Institute of Management has collaborated with AIM2Flourish, the world’s first higher-education curriculum for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of their Social Responsibility and Action (SRA) course.

AIM2Flourish is an initiative of the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at the Weatherhead School of Management - Case Western Reserve University. Using the UN SDGs as their lens, students from GIM have done the research, identified an innovation, interviewed a business leader and then submitted their stories. The stories which have qualified the review process are then made available on the AIM2Flourish platform.

In the year 2019 an astonishing 824 student-written, inspiring innovation stories from all corners of the globe were published. 76 stories from 35 universities in 17 countries under the guidance of 42 different professors made it to the list of The 2020 Flourish Prizes Finalists. Three stories from GIM have been shortlisted as finalist.

These stories showcase positive business innovations that span the globe and demonstrate how business can help achieve the 17 UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs).

Said Professor Divya Singhal, Associate Professor, GIM who was a guide to the student teams “It is really heartening to see that the three stories submitted by GIM students have been shortlisted as Flourish Finalists 2020. We are delighted with the announcement. I thank all three business representatives who have allowed our student’s group to interview them”.

Students Vishal Sharma, Tanushka Malhotra, Arushi Bansal, Sakshi Ajmera, Pruthvi Sainath and Yeshitesh Shirodkar submitted the story ‘Protecting Motherhood’. There is a range of adverse health effects associated with maternal undernutrition (malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiency), anaemia and lack of facilities which can lead to the death of the pregnant women. To curb it, four youngsters for Nashik have developed the ‘Maatritva’ app. The vision of Maatritva is not only to reduce the number of preventable deaths but to enhance the experience of motherhood and enable safe delivery. This goes in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being) that aims at ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being.

‘On my Own’ was submitted by GIM students Nitin Singh Bundela, Aatish Agrawal, Kaiwal Shah, Nikunj Agarwal, Aakansha, and Megha Goel. On my Own is a business that enables differently-abled to learn to drive on their own. It is a business solution that promotes mobility independence and helps people with disabilities to feel more connected to the world around them. This innovation helps solve good health and well-being by gaining a new perspective, decent work and economic growth by opening new doors of employment and help reduce inequalities.

‘Digitisation of Healthcare’ was the subject picked by students Arushi Kapila, Parth Ajmera, Sourabh Kale, Ashi Garg and Abhishek Kumar and the company they chose to focus on was Stetho Healthcare Systems. Thanks to Stetho Healthcare Systems, doctors and patients have quicker and easier access to more data. Whereas before, a patient would have to bring various documents, which might easily be lost, when visiting a doctor, now, this information is always at the doctor’s and patient’s fingertips. What’s more Stetho’s innovation is cutting down on paper waste by keeping information digitally.

Each year the Center honours the best-of-the-best stories with 17 Flourish Prizes – one for each UN Sustainable Development Goals. Of the 76 finalists announced, the 17 Flourish Prize winners will be honoured via a virtual celebration later in the year by AIM2Flourish.