Entrepreneur Hekani Jakhalu Kense awarded Nari Shakti Puruskar Award by Prez

Nagaland, March 9, 2019:

Social entrepreneur and founder of non-profit organization YouthNet, Hekani Jakhalu Kense has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puruskar Award from the President of India Ram Nath Kovind at Rastrapati Bhavan, New Delhi on International Women’s day on Friday.

Hekani is the lone recipient from the Northeast to get the highest civilian award for women in India this year.

The President of India on his official Facebook page posted: “Ms. Hekhani is the founder and Chair of Youth Net which focuses on skill development and promotion of livelihood activities among the unemployed youth, college and school dropouts and women from both urban and rural areas in Nagaland. Her organization helps youth acquire knowledge, develop life skills and form attitudes to enable them to become self-directing, positive, productive, responsible and contributing members of society through active participation and involvement.”

YouthNet’s Nagaland Job Centre (NJC) aims to bridge the gap between job seekers and employers in the private sector.

Hekani is an Alumnus of Lady Sri Ram College, with an LLB from Delhi University and LLM from University of San Francisco and also an Alumnus of Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education. She along with former Indian football Captain Bhaichung Bhutia also founded “Young Leaders Connect” in 2011, a platform to establish a network of young leaders and achievers of the NE to contribute towards building a vibrant economy, strong Government and a common cultural identity.