Meet the Class of 2022-23 Skoll Scholars
Meet the New Cohort of Skoll Scholars, joining the Said Business School, University of Oxford MBA Class of 2022-23
A co-founder and chief scientist of an equity driven energy company, a founder of a sustainable foods venture that specialises in hydroponic farming, an ed-tech solutions executive specialising in accessibility and a gender equality practitioner have all been awarded the Skoll Scholarship. The Skoll Scholarship is a fully-funded scholarship for the Oxford MBA at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, provided by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. The Skoll Scholarship provides funding for entrepreneurs who have set up or have been working in entrepreneurial initiatives with a social purpose or who have pursued an impact career, and who wish to improve their knowledge of market-oriented practices so they can be more effective in their subsequent social change pursuits.
Dr Peter Drobac, Director of the Skoll Centre, comments: 'The world needs social entrepreneurs more than ever. Our world is ailing and we need leaders who can treat the systems, not the symptoms. Unjust systems are dismantled by many hands, but social entrepreneurs light the path forward. We have been equipping entrepreneurial leaders for systems change for nearly two decades, and Skoll Scholars are the heart of our community. We are thrilled to welcome four outstanding social entrepreneurs - Shruti, Fola, Avinash, and Nitya - to Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and the Skoll Centre. And we’re grateful to the Skoll Foundation for this enduring and impactful partnership.’
Shruti Jain
Country of Nationality: India
Shruti is the founder of Kaze Living, a sustainable foods venture involved in hydroponic farming and ecommerce activities. Her farm to-fork marketplace has created a scalable platform for farmers and food producers to build their own brands, sell directly to customers, and achieve greater financial stability. In three years, her work has empowered 1,500+ farmers and built a community of 6,000+ conscious customers. Prior to this, Shruti worked at an international consulting firm for F&B clients on procurement and supply chain projects. She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi. Shruti is also a Laidlaw Scholar at Saïd Business School.
Country of Nationality: India
Shruti is the founder of Kaze Living, a sustainable foods venture involved in hydroponic farming and ecommerce activities. Her farm to-fork marketplace has created a scalable platform for farmers and food producers to build their own brands, sell directly to customers, and achieve greater financial stability. In three years, her work has empowered 1,500+ farmers and built a community of 6,000+ conscious customers. Prior to this, Shruti worked at an international consulting firm for F&B clients on procurement and supply chain projects. She holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi. Shruti is also a Laidlaw Scholar at Saïd Business School.
Avinash (Avi) Kothuri
Country of Nationality: India
Avi was Director of inclusive education at Thinkerbell Labs, which builds ed-tech solutions to improve learning outcomes for the visually impaired. Thinkerbell Lab’s flagship product, Annie, is the world's first Braille literacy device. Avi was a core part of Annie's journey from a prototype to a fully-fledged Braille teaching device, being used by children across continents. Prior to this, Avi worked with SocialCops to help governments and non-profit organisations make better decisions using data. Avi is a mechanical engineering graduate from BITS Pilani Goa. In 2019, he was one of 25 people selected worldwide for the Dalai Lama Fellowship Program.
Avi was Director of inclusive education at Thinkerbell Labs, which builds ed-tech solutions to improve learning outcomes for the visually impaired. Thinkerbell Lab’s flagship product, Annie, is the world's first Braille literacy device. Avi was a core part of Annie's journey from a prototype to a fully-fledged Braille teaching device, being used by children across continents. Prior to this, Avi worked with SocialCops to help governments and non-profit organisations make better decisions using data. Avi is a mechanical engineering graduate from BITS Pilani Goa. In 2019, he was one of 25 people selected worldwide for the Dalai Lama Fellowship Program.
Folasade (Fola) Ayoola
Country of Nationality: Nigeria
Fola’s enthusiasm for energy equity motivated her co-founding of ElectricFish Energy, a distributed energy company with a mission to drive equity. ElectricFish uses their patented technology to provide electricity grid resilience to the most vulnerable locations, with a network of energy storage packs capable of supplying extreme-fast electric vehicle charging. Fola is also a Ph.D. researcher in Energy Science and Engineering at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Her work is focused on the deep decarbonization of large-scale energy systems, exploring low-carbon transition pathway alternatives for oil-dependent countries, particularly developing economies like her home country of Nigeria.
Country of Nationality: Nigeria
Fola’s enthusiasm for energy equity motivated her co-founding of ElectricFish Energy, a distributed energy company with a mission to drive equity. ElectricFish uses their patented technology to provide electricity grid resilience to the most vulnerable locations, with a network of energy storage packs capable of supplying extreme-fast electric vehicle charging. Fola is also a Ph.D. researcher in Energy Science and Engineering at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Her work is focused on the deep decarbonization of large-scale energy systems, exploring low-carbon transition pathway alternatives for oil-dependent countries, particularly developing economies like her home country of Nigeria.
Nitya Nangalia
Country of Nationality: India
Nitya is a Central Team Coordinator at India’s largest women’s organisation, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Bharat, where she brings a focus on entrepreneurship as a way to achieve economic empowerment. In her time at SEWA, she has setup up a ‘Women’s Enterprise Support System’ (WESS) to incubate, accelerate and invest in collective businesses setup by urban/rural poor women across India. Nitya has previously worked as a part of the setup team of Paytm Payment’s Bank, a fintech unicorn in India, and in the fintech practice at PwC, Mumbai. She is an alumna of University of Chicago Trust’s International Innovation Corps (IIC) Fellowship, and Lady Shri Ram College for Women. Nitya is also a Laidlaw Scholar at Saïd Business School
In addition to financial support, the Scholarship also provides access to the Skoll Scholar community, a group of leaders who are positively impacting the world through innovation and systems change, as well as exclusive opportunities to meet with world-renowned entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and investors. Applications for the Skoll Scholarship (2023/2024) are now open and applications are due during stages 1, 2 or 3 of the MBA admissions process. Head to the 'How to Apply' page on the Skoll Scholarship website to find out more!
