Congratulations, Vinod Rajasekaran, the 2021 Winner of the Lewis Perinbam Award

WUSC, in collaboration with Cooperation Canada and the trustees of the Lewis Perinbam Award, are pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of the Innovation and Impact Awards in Honour of Lewis Perinbam. The award was presented during a virtual ceremony held on February 9, 2022.

Individual Award Winner: Vinod Rajasekaran

Vinod Rajasekaran is Publisher and CEO of Future of Good, a fast-growing digital publication covering Canada’s social impact world. Vinod has co-founded and led multiple ventures, and has a rich history of developing and leading innovation platforms in not-for-profit, private, philanthropic, and cross-sector contexts. Trained as an aerospace engineer, with demonstrated experience in public policy and as an entrepreneur, Vinod combines solid knowledge in innovation thinking and practice, and an outcomes-oriented mindset with entrepreneurial energy, agility, and ability to thrive in ambiguity.

Vinod is on the Advisory Board to the Equality Fund. He was designated as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum, is a member of the Banff Forum community, and is a recipient of The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contribution to Canada. He is a regular commentator in the media, an invited speaker to conferences around the world on emerging trends in social impact, innovation, philanthropy, and corporate social responsibility.

The award winner’s launching of the Future of Good in 2018 has built on this vision providing a platform for diverse individuals, founders and activists to connect, learn about, and shape the Canadian social impact sector. Future of Good has convened summits discussing topics such as Black Leadership in Social Impact, Dismantling Digital Barriers, and Transforming Funding Models, shifting the conversation around decolonization and anti-racism in important ways. Future of Good has also pushed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda of universalization both in its coverage of international development and in its coverage of social justice and sustainability in Canada.

Organizational Award Winner

CAUSE Canada,  a Christian-motivated international development and relief organization originally incorporated as a Canadian charitable organization in 1984, focuses its field operations in West Africa and Central America. The organization was declared recipient of the organizational  Innovation & Impact Award by Cooperation Canada, in collaboration with World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and the trustees of the Lewis Perinbam Award. The winner title was presented for its innovation test project, “Mi Small Wef” No More: Eradicating Child Marriage in Sierra Leone by Working with Men in Sierra Leone, West Africa. 

Learn more about the Innovation and Impact Awards in Honour of Lewis Perinbam.