Goldman Sachs announces winners of 2018 India Impact Fund

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs today announced the winners of this year's India Impact Fund, wherein USD 100,000 in grants were awarded to three non-governmental organisations.
The winners of Goldman Sachs' 2018 India Impact Fund include Multiple Initiatives Towards Upliftment (MITU); SayTrees and SELCO Foundation, which won grants of USD 50,000 (Rs 32,06,000); USD 30,000 (Rs 19,23,600); and USD 20,000 (Rs 12,82,400) respectively.
MITU is focused on creating awareness and providing education on the fundamental importance of female hygiene and the access to sanitary products; SayTrees promotes the importance of environmental preservation and tree plantation; and the SELCO Foundation, exclusively through the use of solar power, provides digital education content and tools to improve the quality of classroom education in rural schools.

Launched in October 2016, the India Impact Fund is an initiative that provides an opportunity for junior Goldman Sachs employees to leverage their creativity and analytic skills to identify innovative solutions to pressing social challenges, and support local NGOs, causes of their choice, a company release said.
"Through our India Impact Fund, we have seen the positive effects that sponsoring local, meaningful NGO causes can have, and we are committed to helping extend opportunities to more people throughout the country," said Bunty Bohra, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Services in India.
This year, the India Impact Fund saw applications from more than 20 teams comprising of 85 analysts and associates. The top six teams were selected to advance to the final round and invited to present to a panel of judges from Goldman Sachs' India leadership.

The focus of the judging criteria included the NGO's leadership, reach and potential for impact, the uniqueness of the proposed project or work of the NGO, the team's analysis of the project goals and the scalability of the organisation's work.