The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) awarded Rusen Kumar for his exemplary contribution to the field of CSR in India. He was awarded during annual ASSOCHAM CSR & Sustainability Summit & Awards held on Feb 24 in Bengaluru. India CSR immensely contributed to ASSOCHAM CSR & Sustainability Summit & Awards as a knowledge partner.The Award was presented to him by CN Aswath Narayana, Hon’ble Minister IT Minister of Information Technology – Biotechnology, Higher Education, Science and Technology of Karnataka. Ms Shalini Rajneesh IAS, ACS, Government of Karnataka and Prashanth Prakash, Partner, Accel also present during the award ceremony.Rusen Kumar is a visionary knowledge entrepreneur, author and thought leader on CSR in India. Rusen Kumar is the founder of India CSR (indiacsr.in), a pioneering media network for corporate responsibility and sustainability (CSR) in India.He has been promoting and spreading awareness on CSR for over a decade. He is known for his passion and work towards CSR and Sustainability in India. He brings an understanding on governance, leadership development and strategic focus by serving for-profit and not-for-profit boards and as advisor to the chief executive officers.
His leadership accomplishments in social enterprise, planning and governance range from viable achievements in knowledge forum initiatives to advancement of corporate social responsibility issues in India.Rusen has over 20 years of working experience of journalism, public relations, corporate communication and media management. He has worked with different companies and media institutions. He received his Bachelors’ degree in Mathematics followed by Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing. He has travelled the length and breadth of the country to understand and learn from the people and society.He has been conferred with the prestigious CSR Person of the Year Award, 2017 by Karunya University and Giving Economy Changemaker Awards 2018 by Crowdera Foundation for promoting CSR in India.He himself successfully organised over 35 Summits, Conferences, workshops and awards programmes on various issues related to CSR, Sustainability, Education, Land Acquisition, Sanitation, Entrepreneurship Development etc.He has authored more than 50 articles/reports which got published in various online and print media/magazines and books.He himself has taken interviews of over 100 corporate CSR and social development leaders which are available online. He is the author of 6 books (published).Forum witnessed the presence of B V Naidu Chairman, ASSOCHAM SMARTecIndia Initiative & South Region Development Council & Managing Partner StartupXseed Ventures & Founder & Chairman, The Gain. He emphasized the collaboration between corporate, government and civil society for CSR projects. He also mentioned that the alignment of the CSR projects with SDGs 2030 is the way forward.Also present at the event were Abhishek Ranjan, Chair, ASSOCHAM CSR & Sustainability Committee, Southern Region who laid emphasis on the integration of CSR & Sustainability and how ESG is driving business leaders today to create impact in the society. Shalini Rajneesh IAS, ACS, Government of Karnataka highlighted the Government of Karnataka’s initiative “AKANKSHA”, an integrated platform for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and CSR Alignment.