How do we select?
Step
01
Application screening
Applications are screened based on predefined eligibility criteria using the information/documents submitted by the applicant organisation.
Step
02
Abstract review
Organisation profile and project abstract of eligible applicants are reviewed by a group of independent domain experts, sector experts from HCL Foundation, and Governance Partner. Basis of the review includes a mix of objective and subjective parameters such as Governance, Relevance of the Problem and Solution, Potential of Impact and Innovation, and others.
Step
03
Proposal review
Organisation selected at stage 2 is requested to submit a detailed organisation profile and proposal. Post submission, the application is reviewed by a group of independent domain experts, sector experts from the HCL Foundation and Governance Partner. Additional review parameters include Capacity to Deliver, Financial Modelling, Sustainability, Use of Inclusive approach, Potential for partnership and scalability, and others.
Step
04
Field audit
Organisations selected at stage 3 goes through an audit exercise which consists of a field visit by HCL Foundation member and domain expert. Alongside, diligence is conducted by the Governance Partner. The two teams undertake a joint review of the applications basis each other’s findings and shortlist organisations for the next stage
Step
05
Sub jury review
A high-level panel of twelve (12) members reviews the shortlisted applications basis case presentations made jointly by the HCL Field Team and Governance Partner team. All the organisations reviewed at this stage are featured in the HCL Grant – The Fifth Estate (Compendium). The panel selects the top three applicants in each category for the next stage.
Step
06
Due diligence
The Governance Partner undertakes a detailed diligence exercise for all selected organisations. The exercise involves a review of relevant documents & information, background checks through various sources, visit organisation’s office and project site, discussions with the organisation’s personnel, executives, and board members, others.
Step
07
Jury review
A high-level panel of 6 eminent members reviews shortlisted applications basis case presentations made by the Governance Partner. One winner is selected in each of the three categories and awarded a grant of INR 5 Crores each. The two runners-up in each category are awarded a grant of INR 25 Lakhs each.
Our Selection Process Values
robust
Transparent
Democratic
Our Jury Members
Robin Ann Abrams
ESG & Diversity Board Committee Chair Board Committees Member- Nomination and Remuneration, Audit, Risk Management, HCL Technologies Ltd.
Shiv Nadar
Founder – HCL, Chairman Emeritus & Strategic Advisor to the Board – HCLTech, Founder & Chairman - Shiv Nadar Foundation
Richard Lariviere
Sanskrit Scholar & President Emeritus, The Field Museum, Chicago
B.S. Baswan
Former Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration and Former HRD Secretary
Pallavi Shroff
Managing Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
Suresh Narayanan
Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India Limited
Robin Ann Abrams ESG & Diversity Board Committee Chair Board Committees Member- Nomination and Remuneration, Audit, Risk Management, HCL Technologies Ltd.
(Ms. Robin Abrams holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Nebraska. She was most recently interim CEO at ZiLOG, and has also been the President of Palm Computing and Senior Vice President at 3Com Corporation. She was formerly the President and CEO at VeriFone. Before joining VeriFone in 1997, she held a variety of senior management positions with Apple Computers. As Vice President and General Manager of the Americas, Ms. Abrams oversaw sales and channel management for U.S., Canada and Latin America. Prior to that, she was the Vice President and General Manager of Apple Asia, where she was responsible for sales and marketing in the region. She spent eight years with Unisys in several senior-level positions. Her responsibilities included managing the delivery of business solutions focused on banking, airlines, government and networking. A portion of her tenure at Unisys included a five-year stint in Asia Pacific. The first twelve years of her career were in various management positions at Wells Fargo Bank (formerly known as Norwest Bank). She has served several U.S. public company boards including ZiLOG and BEA Systems (until it was acquired by Oracle) and is currently serving Sierra Wireless and Openwave Systems. She also serves on the Anita Borg Institute Board and several academic advisory committees.
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Shiv Nadar Founder – HCL, Chairman Emeritus & Strategic Advisor to the Board – HCLTech, Founder & Chairman - Shiv Nadar Foundation
(Shiv Nadar is the Founder of HCL Group and the Shiv Nadar Foundation. He is also the Chairman Emeritus & Strategic Advisor to the Board of HCLTech, a $11.8 billion global organization with over 211,000 professionals operating from 52 countries.
Nadar is credited with being one of the pioneers of the computing and IT industry in India. Under his guidance HCL has continued to ride the waves of the changing IT landscape for over 45 years and remain at the forefront of every technological revolution since 1976. While HCL started off as a hardware organization, manufacturing the country’s first indigenous computers and introducing them to the Indian consumer, it eventually evolved into a more comprehensive software services organization. HCL is in fact one of the few global IT companies founded in the 1970s that remains in existence to date.
Throughout his career, Nadar always acknowledged that successful institution building is dependent on forging result-oriented partnerships and creating new knowledge. He steered HCL to create several valuable joint ventures and alliances that aided the organization’s emergence as a global technology enterprise. His pioneering spirit and belief in engineering and research shaped the course of the organization and is the reason that today HCLTech boasts one of the largest IT Engineering and R&D divisions in the world.
Nadar started his career as part of the elite DCM management trainee system. It was at DCM that he met the people with whom he later started HCL in a Delhi Barsati “akin to a garage startup” with a compelling vision that the microprocessor would change the world.
Nadar credits his success to the education and scholarships that he received during his early years. He has always maintained that access to quality education is the most potent tool of transformation and therefore, in 1994, he established the philanthropic - Shiv Nadar Foundation. The Foundation draws heavily on Nadar’s experience of building a world-class organization like HCL. It endeavors to create institutions of transformational education that will continue to influence and nurture the country’s youth for decades to come. To this effect, the Shiv Nadar Foundation has established six institutions covering the entire spectrum of education, which aim to address the issue of quality in education, create lasting partnerships and have a strong research orientation.
As of March 2022, Nadar has invested US$1.1 billion through the Foundation, impacting over 36,000 students directly. However, the Foundation’s ultimate aim is to nurture the next generation of leaders in the ideologies of symbiotic growth so that each of them may in turn aspire to affect a small change, creating a large multiplier effect. The impact of the Shiv Nadar Foundation institutions is today reflected in the aspirations of meritorious students who started their journeys from humble, geographically, remote backgrounds but are today pursuing their dreams in India as well as other countries.
In recognition of his pioneering role in business and philanthropy in India and across the globe, Nadar has received several honors and accolades, notable being the Padma Bhushan from the President of India in 2008.
Nadar is married to Kiran, an Asian Games medalist and internationally renowned bridge player. She is also one of the largest Indian Art collectors in the world.
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Richard Lariviere Sanskrit Scholar & President Emeritus, The Field Museum, Chicago
(President and CEO of the Field Museum since 2012, Dr. Lariviere’s career in academia and business is grounded in expertise in India. His work with the Information Technology industry (beginning in 1992) comprised devising country entry strategies for American companies wishing to have a large presence in India. Among the companies he has worked with are Deluxe Corporation, General Instrument Corporation (now part of Motorola), Cisco Systems, Sabre Holdings, HCL Corporation, Perot Systems, MetLife, and others. His academic writing has garnered international prizes. He was a professor and Dean of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, Provost and Executive Vice-Chancellor at the University of Kansas, and President of the University of Oregon. He has served on the Board of many prestigious organizations across the world. In Chicago, he is a member of the Advisory Board of After School Matters, a member of the Board of the Chicago Cultural Mile, President of the Board of Art in the Center, Member of the Economic Club, the Chicago Club, and the Arts Club.
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B.S. Baswan Former Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration and Former HRD Secretary
(Baswan headed the Government Committee to review recruitment procedures for the higher civil services till August 2016. He regularly speaks on public policy issues at a number of institutions. He has held some of the key positions in the Government including Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie; Secretary, National Commission for Minorities, Government of India; Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals); Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India; Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India; and finally retired as Education Secretary, Government of India. Post retirement, he spent time in the Planning Commission as a Senior Consultant and later served as the Director of the Indian Institute of Public Administration.
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Pallavi Shroff Managing Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
(Ms. Pallavi S. Shroff is the Managing Partner of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co., with about 37 years of extensive experience. Her broad and varied representation of public and private corporations and other entities before various national courts, tribunals and legal institutions has earned her national and international acclaim. Ms. Shroff is the head of the dispute resolution practice and also mentors the competition law practice at the firm. For her legal acumen and thought leadership, Ms. Shroff has frequently featured in several international publications and legal directories. She has been conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chambers India Awards 2019. Fortune India recognised her as one of The Most Powerful Women in Business, 2018-19. She has also been recognised as one of the most powerful women in Indian business by Business Today, for seven years in succession (2013-19). Ms. Shroff is presently a director on the boards of prestigious Indian companies including Apollo Tyres, Trident Group, One97 Communications Ltd. (Paytm), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., IndiGo and Juniper Hotels Ltd.
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Suresh Narayanan Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India Limited
(Mr. Suresh Narayanan has over 35 years of rich and exhaustive experience in the FMCG Industry and has held Senior Management and Top Leadership roles in leading global companies. He is on the Board of Directors of Nestlé India Limited from 1st August, 2015. Mr. Narayanan was Chairman and CEO of Nestlé Philippines prior to joining Nestlé India in 2015. Mr. Narayanan was Managing Director of Nestlé Singapore Pte. Ltd., from 2008 to 2010. During his time, the overall business in Singapore witnessed sustained growth amidst the economic downturn. He was awarded the Medal of Commendation by the Government of Singapore in 2010, for excellence in employee relations during this challenging period. He moved to Nestlé Egypt as Chairman and CEO and Head of NEAR, where his initiatives resulted in significant business growth and investments despite the turbulence and volatility faced by the region at this time. Mr. Narayanan joined Nestlé in 1999 as Executive Vice President for Sales in India, where he spearheaded major structural and strategic changes in Sales and Customer Management and set up the chilled dairy business. He moved to Nestlé Indochina in 2003, as Executive Director for Sales, Marketing and Food-Services, covering the countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Two years later in 2005, he returned to Nestlé India as Head of Sales for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Mr. Narayanan began his career as a Management Trainee with Hindustan Unilever, where he held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in Sales, Marketing and General Management. He has also worked with Colgate Palmolive in India. Mr. Narayanan holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and has a Diploma from the IMD Program for Executive Development. He has participated in the Nestlé Leadership Program of the London Business School. He has delivered talks at NASSCOM forums, various Corporates, NUS School of Business-Singapore, American University–Cairo, Columbia University, Army War College– Mhow, Naval War College-Goa and Business Schools such as IIM’s, ISB etc. in India. Suresh has been honoured at the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2017 as the Best CEO in the Multinational category. He was recognized among “Most Valuable CEOs” in 2019 by Business World and also awarded “Best CEO – FMCG” for 2019 by Business Today. Under his leadership, in 2019, Nestlé India won the “Best Governed Company Award for 2018” by Asian Centre for Corporate Governance & Sustainability.
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