Jeroo Billimoria
Encyclopedia
Jeroo Billimoria is the founder and managing director of Child and Youth Finance International.She is also the founder of Aflatoun
(Child Savings International), Childline India Foundation
and Child helpline international
.
Billimoria began working with children living on the streets of India, many of whom had run away from home, and created Childline India Foundation, a 24-hour emergency telephone service for children in India. After answering phone calls from street children through these helplines, Billimoria noticed that many of the children demonstrated characteristics of good entrepreneurs: they were smart and creative. However, some were sucked into crime, drugs or prostitution. To help them break free from the cycle of poverty and crime, Billimoria created Aflatoun, a non-profit organization dedicated to the social and financial education of children. The focus of this organization is to teach children about themselves, their rights and responsibilities, and to instill in them basic financial habit and know-how.
, the Skoll
World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship and at global corporations and universities. She has been named a Fellow by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
and by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
. Billimoria was also awarded the Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Skoll Foundation
.
Aflatoun
Aflatoun is a non-governmental organization focusing on educating children about their rights and responsibilities and managing financial resources through social and financial education. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Aflatoun currently works in 80 countries who are implementing the...
(Child Savings International), Childline India Foundation
Childline India Foundation
CHILDLINE India Foundation is a non-profit organization that function as a nodal agency for CHILDLINEs across India. The goal of CIF is to reach out to marginalised children in need of care and protection...
and Child helpline international
Child helpline international
Child Helpline International is a global network of telephone helplines and outreach services for children and young people. Working in over 150 countries, CHI was founded on the belief that children and young people have rights, and that they alone are the best individuals to identify their...
.
Biography
Jeroo Billimoria was born July 20, 1965, in Mumbai, India. Her father was an accountant. Billimoria was instilled with strong social beliefs by her mother when she was young. When she was 17 years old, her father died. Billimoria received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai (formerly the University of Bombay) and a Master of Arts degree in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India, where she was recognized as “best student.” Billimoria also earned a Master of Science degree in Non-Profit Management from the New School for Social Research University in New York. She lectured at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences from 1991 to 1999.Social entrepreneurship
Billimoria has founded several social organizations, including Child Helpline International, Childline India Foundation, MelJol, the Credibility Alliance and Aflatoun. She is currently the Managing Director of Child and Youth Finance International. Recognized as a "shining example" of the world's "leading social entrepreneurs," Billimoria's social and humanitarian work has reached the lives of millions of children around the worldBillimoria began working with children living on the streets of India, many of whom had run away from home, and created Childline India Foundation, a 24-hour emergency telephone service for children in India. After answering phone calls from street children through these helplines, Billimoria noticed that many of the children demonstrated characteristics of good entrepreneurs: they were smart and creative. However, some were sucked into crime, drugs or prostitution. To help them break free from the cycle of poverty and crime, Billimoria created Aflatoun, a non-profit organization dedicated to the social and financial education of children. The focus of this organization is to teach children about themselves, their rights and responsibilities, and to instill in them basic financial habit and know-how.
Awards and recognition
Billimoria is a globally respected speaker and advocate of child rights and economic empowerment. She has been a speaker at the World Economic ForumWorld Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
, the Skoll
Skoll
In Norse mythology, Sköll is a wolf that chases the horses Árvakr and Alsviðr, that drag the chariot which contains the sun through the sky every day, trying to eat her. Sköll has a brother, Hati, who chases Máni, the moon...
World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship and at global corporations and universities. She has been named a Fellow by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, VA, supporting the field of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton in 1981 to identify and support leading social entrepreneurs through a Social Venture Capital approach with the goal of...
and by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides platforms at the country, regional and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.- History :...
. Billimoria was also awarded the Social Entrepreneurship Award by the Skoll Foundation
Skoll Foundation
The Skoll Foundation is a social entrepreneurship foundation based in Silicon Valley, California, with a mission to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems...
.
Published works
- Children & Change and Partners for Change (2009)
- Twinkle Star (Std. I to Std. IV) value education textbooks.
- Explorer Series (Std. V to Std. IV) value education textbooks.
- CHILDLINE Across India series:
- Listening to children: An overview to CHILDLINE
- Laying the Foundation: Getting Started and Taking Off
- CHILDLINE at my finger tips: A resource book
- Spreading the word: CHILDLINE awareness strategies
- Recording children's concerns: Documenting CHILDLINE
- The National Initiative for Child Protection
- Voices from the streets: Life stories of children who have called CHILDLINE
External links
- ChildFinanceInternational.org Official Website of Child and Youth Finance International, September 21, 2011
- Jeroo Billimoria on Twitter Twitter-Profile of Jeroo Billimoria, September 21, 2011
- Jeroo Billimoria on LinkedIn LinkedIn-Profile of Jeroo Billimoria, September 21, 2011
- Child and Youth Finance International on Facebook Facebook-Profile of Child and Youth Finance International, September 21, 2011
- Podcast Interview with Jeroo Billimoria Social Innovation Conversations, December 21, 2007
- Global Financial Literacy Summit Operation HOPE, June 2009. Minutes: 09:00 – 14:22
- “Getting it Right on the Money” Article in The Economist, 3 April 2008
- “Commerce Plaza Puts Kids into Business” Article in BusinessWeek on Aflatoun, 22 July 2009
- How to Change the World by David Bornstein, Oxford University Press, 2004. Chapter on Jeroo’s life and work with Childline India.
- “The Power of Unreasonable People,” John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan, Harvard Business Press, February 5, 2008. Jeroo is profiled as a leading social entrepreneur.
- Aflatoun ranked as one of the 50 global pioneers in the business of social innovation by Volans.com