Considered to be among the “world’s leading social entrepreneurs,” Jeroo Billimoria founded several award winning NGOs, won awards like the Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Skoll Foundation and is an Ashoka as well as a Schwab Fellow.
Born and raised in Mumbai, India, where she devoted a lot of her time to children living on the streets, Jeroo founded her first organization, Meljol, hoping to provide Indian children with opportunities they would otherwise have difficulty finding. Other organizations she established throughout her career were likewise focused on helping children. Childline India, for instance, involved a 24-hour hotline service that allowed children to call whenever in need.
Most recently, though, in 2011, she founded Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI), a global system change organization with partners in over 150 countries that is working to ensure financial inclusion and Economic Citizenship Education for young people worldwide.
Hoping to have Jeroo participate in our Shape Your Future series, we reached out to her asking if she would like to answer several questions via video. Here is what she had to say.
