New Delhi : Aspen Institute India and Anne Welsh McNulty, Trustee of Aspen Institute US named Amit Bhatia, the fifth winner of the John P. McNulty Prize annual award at a gala function here on Wednesday night.

A committee of judges including Madeleine Albright, Olara Otunnu, Shashi Tharoor and Anne McNulty selected Bhatia, in recognition of his impact in training over 50,000 students from rural and disadvantaged backgrounds to be English-fluent, tech-savvy, problem-solving new recruits and ready to fuel India’s new economy.

“By teaching the skills to take rural and semi-urban youth from education to employability, Aspire is democratizing opportunity in the world’s largest democracy,” said Anne McNulty. “The jury was inspired by his determined efforts to lead his country toward a better, more prosperous and productive future,” noted McNulty.

Mr. Amit Bhatia, CEO of Aspire gives youth studying in semi-urban and rural educational institutions the knowledge, skills and behavioral skills to gain employment and succeed in their chosen career.

While announcing the award last night, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, MP and author, and one of the judges for the 2012 McNulty Prize, said, “”We are a country where 540 million young people are under 25.  In theory, while the rest of the world is ageing, we should have one of the most productive and dynamic workforces on the planet.  That will only happen if these young people are educated and trained by organizations like Aspire to take advantage of the employment opportunities that the 21st century Indian economy offers them.”

Prior to founding Aspire, Mr. Amit Bhatia served as CEO of WNS Knowledge Services, a division of WNS Inc, listed on the NYSE in 2007, and had successful stints at Freemarkets, American Express, and McKinsey & Co., where he created the McKinsey Knowledge Center.

In 2007, after becoming an India Leadership Initiative Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, Mr. Bhatia decided to leave the private sector and founded Aspire, a for-profit social enterprise created to address the critical gap between education and industry. India, a country of 1.2 billion, has 320 million youths in schools and colleges. However, less than 25% are employable due to knowledge, skills and attitudinal gaps. Aspire has trained over 52,000 students enrolled in 80 institutions across 16 Indian states till date.

“Winning the McNulty Prize has inspired the Aspire team to stay on-course for our target of one million trainees by 2022. We salute the young Indians we trained from across India, who despite challenged education and economics, won careers by building employability skills our education system failed to provide. They will inspire the 500 million new job seekers in India to claim their destinies, so India can seize its demographic dividend and reclaim its great economic legacy,” explained Bhatia.

Gautam Thapar, Chairman Aspen India and Chairman Avantha Group applauded Amit Bhatia for his vision in addressing India’s challenge for market ready talent availability and employability through Aspire. “Amit’s vision and commitment in developing India’s youth began when he scaled up his Aspen India Leadership project.  He put in his passion and belief and transformed it into the success it is today.  India needs more role models like Amit and his Aspire project for creating value for the larger community and taking “thought to action”, noted Thapar.

The McNulty Prize seeks to galvanize efforts to address the foremost social, economic and political challenges of our time by recognizing the very best in high-impact work that Fellows from the Aspen Global Leadership Network undertake as part of their Fellowship. This work is assessed on creativity, impact and sustainability.

The other 2012 finalists include — HILDEGARD VÁSQUEZ, CAPTA Panama.

Architect and urban planning activist, HILDEGARD VÁSQUEZ, who founded CAPTA to empower marginalized women with self-reliance and the practical skills to gain employment, break the cycle of poverty and retain their homes in rapidly gentrifying communities.

CHARLES LUYCKX & GARY CAMPBELL, FUEL TRUST, South Africa.

Former top-level restaurant industry executives CHARLES LUYCKX & GARY CAMPBELL, created FUEL to ensure meals reach needy public school students so that they are able learn at school. FUEL provides systems analysis, support and training inside South Africa’s Dept of Education.

MARÍA PACHECO, VITAL VOICES GUATEMALA, Guatemala

Rural development entrepreneur MARÍA PACHECO is working to end social and economic underutilization of women across Central America by connecting, bringing visibility to, and training women leaders in all sectors.

The announcement of award was followed by a conversation between Dr. Shashi Tharoor and Aspen US CEO and author Walter Isaacson. The award will be given on October 31 at a reception at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.

Previous winners of the McNulty Prize include Dele Olojede (NEXT ­ 2011), John Danner (Rocketship Education ­ 2010), Patrick Awuah (Ashesi University ­ 2009), and Jordan Kassalow (VisionSpring ­ 2008).

Aspen Institute India promotes values-based leadership, open dialogue and cross-sector outreach by engaging the civil society, government, private sector, and other key stakeholders on issues related to India’s development through its leadership programmes, public and Track II dialogues.