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History

Explore our growth since our founding in 2009. We’ve achieved some key milestones and scaled further across the world than we could have ever imagined.

International History

  1. The Beginning

    Peter Vandor creates Social Impact Award to find out if there are any social entrepreneurs in Austria. His search is successful – the first-ever award is won by Project-E, a vocational school for orphan girls in Ethiopia.

  2. First Expansions

    Social Impact Award makes its first steps outside of Austria. With an innovative licensing model and the support of Impact Hub Prague & Ropot, the program is brought to the Czech Republic and Romania.

  3. Deepening SIA

    Now active in 10 countries across Europe, SIA supports over 4000 social entrepreneurs. Former SIA winner Jakob Detering takes on the role of Managing Director and fast-tracks the development of the incubation and community phases of the program.

  4. First SIA Summit

    The first SIA Summit takes place in Vienna, gathering winners of incubations across the world.

  5. Global Presence

    Now active in 20 countries across Europe, Africa, and Asia, SIA reaches over 6000 young social entrepreneurs. The incubation is redesigned to increase the focus on mentoring and prototyping.

  6. Resilience in Pandemic Times

    COVID-19 strikes around the world. SIA digitalizes its entire program and helps thousands of young social entrepreneurs put social innovation at the core of the post-pandemic recovery.

  7. The New Normal

    As COVID-19 restrictions ease, in-person SIA gatherings slowly return around the world. SIA successfully expands to four new countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Germany, Slovenia, and Ukraine and reaches unprecedented impact numbers by launching a variety of new formats.

  8. A Transformative Year

    SIA embraces a hybrid approach around the world, and successfully runs 18 programs in times of war, conflict, and crisis. 160 winners and alumni gather in Vienna, Austria for the SIA Summit, the first since the start of the pandemic and the biggest Summit in SIA’s history.

History of SIA India

  1. Foundation and First Steps

    Impact Hub Hyderabad is the official licensee of the Social Impact Award (SIA) in India. In our inaugural year, we are excited to recognize and celebrate innovative social projects addressing pressing challenges in India. Inspired by the global success of the original Social Impact Award, SIA India leverages local talent and skills to create awareness and drive solutions for real-world social problems

Our Team

Our team works tirelessly to improve the quality of the program and deepen its impact.

Meet the team

Our Impact

Since 2009, SIA has impacted thousands of young agents of change in more than 25 countries.

Learn more