Fast Company honors Set Free’s Child Slavery Prevention Program among 2021 World Changing Ideas finalists
May 6, 2021
GREENVILLE, SC – The Child Slavery Prevention Program of Set Free Alliance (“Set Free”), a South Carolina-based non-profit, humanitarian organization that focuses on rescuing children from slavery and providing fresh water and medical aid to remote villages in Africa and India, was recently selected as a finalist in the Social Justice category of Fast Company magazine’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards. Set Free’s Child Slavery Prevention Program follows a proven microfinance model to focus on preventing child slavery rather than remediation. Showcasing some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling exigent global challenges, the World Changing Ideas Awards will be featured in Fast Company’s Summer 2021 issue, on newsstands May 11.
“The work we do through Set Free has always been rewarding, but to be recognized in this way from an organization like Fast Company is an honor that is hard to put into words,” stated Sarah Kelley, the organization’s chief executive officer. “We are encouraged to be a finalist among some of the world’s leading innovators and problem-solvers, and hope that we can not only continue our work to rescue enslaved children across India, but also empower the villagers themselves to eradicate it to create future generational freedom and community transformation.”
How Set Free’s Child Slavery Prevention Program Works
Under the information that 71% of children in slavery in India are there as the result of parental loan defaults—where children are sold as a way to “pay” the debt a parent may owe—Set Free’s Child Slavery Prevention Program began when its leadership asked themselves a simple question: “What if we could stop child slavery before it even started?”
The program works to repay loans directly to agents, and set terms that the children can no longer be used as payment. In return, loan repayments can be made in the form of food or supplies that go to support children rescued from slavery without families to return to, or cash payments that cycle back into another loan payment and released child.
Launched as a three-month test during 2020, Set Free’s Child Slavery Prevention Program generated remarkable results: $89,573 in loans across 74 villages in India were paid off, achieving a 98 percent loan repayment rate, serving 1,309 families and saving 2,308 children from being sold into slavery as well as 708 young women from being sold into brothels.
“There is no question our society and planet are facing deeply troubling times. So, it’s important to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, impact, design, scalability, and passion to solve these problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have discovered some of the most groundbreaking projects that have launched since the start of 2020.”
Now in its fifth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 33 winners, more than 400 finalists, and more than 800 honorable mentions—each selected by a panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters. More than 4,000 entries were received from across the globe, from Brazil to Denmark to Vietnam.
About Set Free Alliance
Set Free Alliance (“Set Free”) began nearly twenty years ago with a focus on drilling fresh-water wells in Liberia, Africa. The organization has evolved through an extensive network of global indigenous partners to provide clean water to more than two million people on two continents, to rescue more than 40,000 children from slavery, baptize millions into the Christian faith, and plant thousands of churches. Learn more about Set Free by visiting SetFreeAlliance.org.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all. Learn more at FastCompany.com.
