Ashoka
Ashoka Fellow Jeroo Billimoria Wins Dutch Royal Honors
Ashoka Fellow Jeroo Billimoria has received an award from the King of the Netherlands given to persons who have committed outstanding service to society. By being appointed to Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, she now ranks among renowned Dutch politicians, artists and scientists.
Billimoria, who moved to the Netherlands from India 15 years ago, is the only non-European to receive a royal honor from the Dutch King this year. She is considered among the world's leading social entrepreneurs and is now working on her ninth entrepreneurial venture.
During the last 15 years, Billimoria's three organizations have touched the lives of an estimated 200 million children globally. She founded Child Helpline International (CHI) in 2003 with the intention of improving child protection systems by strengthening child helplines around the world. Today, CHI comprises a network of 180 helplines in 147 countries.
Following CHI in 2005, Billimoria founded Aflatoun International to teach children about money to break the cycle of poverty. The Alfatoun campaign received the support of H.M. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, and, in partnership with Nederlandsche Bank and Deloitte, reached 11 million people in 109 countries.
In 2011, Billimoria founded her third organization, Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI), a global system change organization working with partners in over 150 countries to ensure financial inclusion and Economic Citizenship Education for young people worldwide. CYFI has reached 36 million young people under Billimoria's leadership, supporting 16,000 youth entrepreneurs through the Ye! Community initiative and reaching over 7 million children in their annual, Global Money Week.
NGO Advisor recently ranked Aflatoun International, CYFI, and CHI in the Top 500 NGOs World making Billimoria the only person globally to have three organization ranked in the top 100. With her organizations ranked at 26th, 32nd and 84th place (respectively), Billimoria's work is highly regarded across the non-profit network.
Billimoria was elected an Ashoka Fellow in 1998. She later became a Schwab Fellow and a Skoll Awardee. She was recognized for her innovation and leadership when she was awarded Union of Arab Banks award in 2015. Billamoria was ranked 3rd in the charity and non-profit category of Opzij's Top 100 Influential Women.