Shakti tied for second place and earned $15,000 in the 2018 John Edwardson, ’72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC) on May 22. The startup also received the $10,000 Tata Centre for Development Social Impact Award for India, Instituted by Tata Trusts, to pursue a venture that addresses a socially relevant issue in India and advances it in India. The award can fund travel to/from India or expenses to pilot in India. This award is instituted by Tata Trusts and implemented by the Tata Centre for Development at UChicago (TCD).
Run by Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the SNVC is the social impact track of the University of Chicago’s nationally ranked Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge (NVC).
In this Q&A, Shakti cofounders Meghana Chandra, a student at the Harris School of Public Policy, and Mariana Botero, a joint Booth and Harris student, explain how they plan to use a mobile-based intervention to empower functionally illiterate women in India to enforce their rights and access legal and public health resources.
