Press Release on Joseph Wharton Award

Professor Durreen Shahnaz receives the 2014 Joseph Wharton Award for Social Impact

3 October 2014 - Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX) and Impact Investment Shujog (Shujog) are pleased to congratulate our Founder and Chairperson, Professor Durreen Shahnaz, on receiving the 2014 Joseph Wharton Award for Social Impact. The award is presented annually to the alumnus who has made a significant impact in public services, social enterprise or philanthropy. The Joseph Wharton Award is one of the highest honor that Wharton Business School confers on its alumni.

This award effectively recognizes Professor Shahnaz’s efforts in bringing impact investing to the masses through her work at IIX and Shujog. IIX and Shujog, both Singapore-based organizations, have been at the forefront of driving impact investing, particularly across the Asia Pacific region.

In her acceptance speech, Professor Shahnaz explained, “Equitable and sustainable growth cannot be reached within our current systems. There has to be a middle ground between profit maximizing businesses and charitable organizations that rely on donations. This middle ground, or third way, is impact investing, a vibrant marketplace where social, environmental and financial returns come together." She added, “IIX and Shujog have created a vibrant ecosystem for impact investing with thousands of companies and individuals working together to create a financial system that works for all and where everyone can be a participant. The work of the two organizations have impacted the lives of more than 10 million people positively while bringing an average return of over 10% for the investors.”

Professor Shahnaz accepted the award on Thursday, 2nd October 2014, at the Metropolitan Club, New York City. Other recipients of the 2014 Joseph Wharton Awards include Robert Crandall, Former Chairman of American Airlines, Alex Gorsky, Chairman of Johnson & Johnson and Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, Co-founders and Co-CEOs of Warby Parker.

In concluding her speech, she noted that the Wharton alumni "have made incredible contributions to society by your professional work and philanthropic giving", and urged her fellow alums to “...join me in this journey of the ‘third way’, not only as a moral obligation, but to be a part of history in the making."

 

About Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX)

IIX is a Singapore-based organization with a mission to provide Social Enterprises (SEs) in Asia greater access to investment capital, allowing them to expand the impact of their activities more rapidly. IIX now offers three investment platforms – Impact Accelerator™, Impact Partners™ and Impact Exchange™. Impact Accelerator™ provides seed-stage SEs with mentorship and private capital through a structured and customized process. Impact Partners™ connects accredited impact investors to selected growth-stage SEs who are looking to raise investment capital. Impact Exchange™, the world’s first social stock exchange operated by the Stock Exchange of Mauritius in collaboration with IIX, is a regulated stock exchange dedicated to listing and trading securities issued by mature SEs and other socially-driven organizations. To date, IIX has facilitated $8.5 million of investments  impacting more than 8 million people across Asia with $13.4 million in social value created.

IIX is based in Singapore. For more information, visit asiaiix.com and follow us on Twitter @asiaiix and Facebook at facebook.com/asiaiix.

About Impact Investment Shujog (Shujog): 

Shujog is a not-for-profit organization based in Singapore. Its mission is to strengthen, deepen, and expand the impact Social Enterprises (SEs) deliver in poor and vulnerable communities. To date, more than 1 million underserved people have benefited from the increased efficiency and effectiveness of Shujog’s social value creation; over 3,700 impact investing professionals have been introduced to the social finance space through education and training; and more than 234,000 people have been engaged and exposed to the field of social enterprises and impact investing. As Shujog diversifies its impact-driven activities across countries and sectors, its footprint in Asia Pacific has become both broad and deep, allowing it to effectively play the intermediary role, be a thought leader, and build bridges among stakeholders.

Shujog is based in Singapore. For more information, visit shujog.org and follow us on Twitter @shujog and Facebook at facebook.com/Shujog.

About the Joseph Wharton Awards

The Wharton Club of New York's Joseph Wharton Awards Dinner has long been considered the premiere business school alumni event in New York City. The Joseph Wharton Awards recognize exceptional leaders within the alumni community in four distinct categories: Young Leadership, Social Impact, Leadership and Lifetime Achievement. The event began in the mid 1970's, and in 2006 the Wharton Club of New York revived the club tradition of hosting this prestigious event, strengthening the notion that the Wharton Alumni Association is one of the most exclusive and powerful communities in the world. Notable past recipients of the Joseph Wharton Awards include Rajiv Shah (currently the Administrator of USAID) and legendary investors Peter Lynch and Charles Schwab.

For media queries, please contact:
Li Kah Yan, Advocacy
Email: kli@asiaiix.com
Telephone: (65) 6221 7051