Jeroo Billimoria
| Jeroo Billimoria | |
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| Born | July 20, 1965 in Mumbai, India |
| Occupation | Social Entrepreneur Founder and Managing Director of Child and Youth Finance International Founder of Aflatoun |
Jeroo Billimoria (b.1965) is the founder and managing director of Child and Youth Finance International.She is also the founder of Aflatoun (Child Savings International), Childline India Foundation and Child helpline international.
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[edit] Biography
Jeroo Billimoria was born July 20, 1965, in Mumbai, India. She is considered among the world’s leading entrepreneurs. She is a Skoll Awardee and an Ashoka fellow who is launching her ninth entrepreneurial venture. Among these are Childline and ChildHelpline International , founded which have facilitated a global movement for children’s protection. She was featured in David Bornstein’s book How to Change the World. Billimoria was instilled with strong social beliefs by her parents when she was young. Billimoria received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai (formerly the University of Bombay) and a Master of Arts degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. Billimoria also earned a Master of Science degree in Non-Profit Management from the New School for Social Research University in New York. She lectured at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences from 1991 to 1999.
[edit] Social entrepreneurship
Billimoria has founded several social organizations, including Child Helpline International, Childline India Foundation, MelJol, the Credibility Alliance and Aflatoun. She is currently the Managing Director of Child and Youth Finance International. Recognized as a "shining example" of the world's "leading social entrepreneurs," Billimoria's social and humanitarian work has reached the lives of millions of children around the world[1]
Billimoria began working with children living on the streets of India, many of whom had run away from home, and created Childline India Foundation, a 24-hour emergency telephone service for children in India. After answering phone calls from street children through these helplines, Billimoria noticed that many of the children demonstrated characteristics of good entrepreneurs: they were smart and creative. However, some were sucked into crime, drugs or prostitution. To help them break free from the cycle of poverty and crime, Billimoria created Aflatoun, a non-profit organization dedicated to the social and financial education of children. The focus of this organization is to teach children about themselves, their rights and responsibilities, and to instill in them basic financial habit and know-how. It has reached over 1 million children in 81 countries.
Building on this success, Jeroo is now taking the concept of children’s financial inclusion and empowerment to impact systems change through her newest global organization, Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI). CYFI is set to ensure financial education and financial inclusion for 100 million children in 100 countries by 2015 by working with international stakeholders and experts around the world.
[edit] Awards and recognition
Billimoria is a globally respected speaker and advocate of child rights and economic empowerment. She has been a speaker at the World Economic Forum, the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship and at global corporations and universities. She has been named a Fellow by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public[2] and by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.[3] Billimoria was also awarded the Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Skoll Foundation.[4]
[edit] Published works
- Children & Change and Partners for Change (2009)
- Twinkle Star (Std. I to Std. IV) value education textbooks.
- Explorer Series (Std. V to Std. IV) value education textbooks.
- CHILDLINE Across India series:
- Listening to children: An overview to CHILDLINE
- Laying the Foundation: Getting Started and Taking Off
- CHILDLINE at my finger tips: A resource book
- Spreading the word: CHILDLINE awareness strategies
- Recording children's concerns: Documenting CHILDLINE
- The National Initiative for Child Protection
- Voices from the streets: Life stories of children who have called CHILDLINE
[edit] References
- ^ “The rise of the social entrepreneur,” Article in The Economist, 23 February 2006
- ^ Ashoka Fellows
- ^ Schwab Social Entrepreneurs
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
- ChildFinanceInternational.org Official Website of Child and Youth Finance International, September 21, 2011
- Jeroo Billimoria on Twitter Twitter-Profile of Jeroo Billimoria, September 21, 2011
- Jeroo Billimoria on LinkedIn LinkedIn-Profile of Jeroo Billimoria, September 21, 2011
- Child and Youth Finance International on Facebook Facebook-Profile of Child and Youth Finance International, September 21, 2011
- Podcast Interview with Jeroo Billimoria Social Innovation Conversations, December 21, 2007
- Global Financial Literacy Summit Operation HOPE, June 2009. Minutes: 09:00 – 14:22
- “Getting it Right on the Money” Article in The Economist, 3 April 2008
- “Commerce Plaza Puts Kids into Business” Article in BusinessWeek on Aflatoun, 22 July 2009
- How to Change the World by David Bornstein, Oxford University Press, 2004. Chapter on Jeroo’s life and work with Childline India.
- “The Power of Unreasonable People,” John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan, Harvard Business Press, February 5, 2008. Jeroo is profiled as a leading social entrepreneur.
- Aflatoun ranked as one of the 50 global pioneers in the business of social innovation by Volans.com
