The Skoll Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship has awarded Filipina Ma. Cecilia Flores Oebanda for her devoted activism against human trafficking and child labor. Known as Nanay Day to the women and children she has helped, Oebanda is the first Asian to win the Skoll award, which also recognizes the Visayan Forum (VF), where she serves as president. Nanay Day and VF will also receive a $1 million grant from a U.S.-based organization for their commitment to legislate protection for workers—especially children and women—from slavery, exploitation, and trafficking. Read More.

The 9th Annual New York University Stern Business Plan Competition has awarded more than $150,000 in seed money and in-kind support to three winning teams for their original venture ideas. The competition features two different tracks—traditional entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship, which shared the $100,000 Stewart Satter Family prize. Asher Hasan, Saad Tabani, Farhan Musharrif, and Irum Musharraf with Naya Jeevan for Kids (NJFK) received a $75,000 prize for their commitment to providing economically disenfranchised families in India and Pakistan with affordable healthcare for acute health-related emergencies. NFJK gives naya jeevan, or new life in Urdu and Hindi, to low-income corporate employees and their families and domestic staff members of corporate employees and their families.

Founder Brian McCollum and co-founders Brett Beach and Tim McCollum of Madécasse won $25,000 of the Stewart Satter Family Prize for their work to import food products grown and made from locally grown vanilla beans and cocoa in Madagascar. Madécasse is a social enterprise using a model known as Equitrade, an expansion of Fair Trade, in that it urges for the production and manufacture of products to take place in the goods’ motherland. With Equitrade Malagasy vanilla beans and cocoa, Madécasse distributes chocolate bars and other specialty foods through the U.S. retailers. Learn more about the Stern School of Business.