A co-operative organiser, activist and Gandhian, she founded the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA) in 1972 which now has over 1 million members. Since then, Bhatt has founded and chaired numerous organisations that aim to improve the lives of the poorest and most marginalised women workers, notably through microfinance. She was also a Member of Parliament and a Member of the Indian Planning Commission.

Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus created the concept of micro-credit. In 1976, Professor Yunus started to experiment with providing collateral free loans to the poor. Today Grameen Bank has over 8.4 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women. Professor Yunus’ microcredit idea has spread to almost all countries in the world. He is also the co-founder of Yunus Social Business, which creates and empowers social businesses to address social problems around the world.

A social worker and writer, he works with survivors of mass violence, victims of hunger, homeless people, street children, minorities, bonded workers and other marginalised people. He is the Director of the Centre for Equity Studies, and Special Commissioner to the Supreme Court of India in the Right to Food case.

A political and social activist whose work led to the enactment of the Right to Information Act in 2005. In 1990 she helped found the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sagathan. Roy has helped to shape the MNREGA, helped expand public accountability, most recently through pre-legislative consultation and grievance redressal mechanisms. She is presently campaigning for a universal old-age pension in India.

A development economist who has been influential in Indian economic and social policymaking and a peace activist. His work focuses on hunger, gender inequality, child health and education, employment guarantee and food security. He is currently an Honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics and Visiting Professor at the Department of Economics, Ranchi University.

Deep Joshi is a social worker and activist and has been an advisor to the Government on poverty alleviation and rain fed agriculture. He is recognised for his leadership in bringing professionalism to the NGO world in India. He is the co-founder of the non-profit Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) which focuses on expanding livelihood opportunities for the rural poor, while taking educated people with empathy to the villages. He is the recipient of the Magsaysay award for his work on development of rural communities.

A social activist and entrepreneur, he is the co-founder and CEO of the educational non-profit Pratham. Chavan’s development work began in the slums of Mumbai in 1989. Pratham was founded with UNICEF in 1994. Pratham works towards the provision of quality education to underprivileged children in India, with supporting chapters around the world. It now reaches 3 million primary aged children each year.