Goldman Sachs announces India Impact Fund winners

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs today announced the winners of its inaugural 'India Impact Fund' under which three NGOs -- Children's LoveCastles Trust, Spastics Society of Karnataka and Digital Empowerment Foundation, won grants totalling USD 100,000.

The India Impact Fund is an initiative tailored for young employees of Goldman Sachs to make an impact on communities across the country by competing among themselves to identify and secure a total grant of USD 100,000 (around Rs 68 lakhs) for three non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The first winners were Children's LoveCastles Trust, Spastics Society of Karnataka, and Digital Empowerment Foundation, who got the grants of USD 50,000 (Rs 33,95,000); USD 30,000 (Rs 20,37,000), and USD 20,000 (Rs 13,58,000), respectively.

The fund was launched in October, 2016.

"The India Impact Fund allows our young professionals who have recently joined the workforce to learn first-hand about the firm's long-standing culture of philanthropy and teamwork at an early stage in their careers," said Bunty Bohra, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Services in India.

The Children's LoveCastles Trust leverages low cost technology to empower under-served schools in grades 5-10 with a focus on STEM education.

The Spastics Society of Karnataka helps children with learning disabilities through early diagnosis, education, life-skills training and rehabilitation services while the Digital Empowerment Foundation works to provide information access for far-flung rural communities through digital inclusion, digital literacy and last mile connectivity.