After bringing technological solutions to impoverished parts of the world, last week two Kellogg School of Management alumni were named Social Entrepreneurs of the Year.

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship recognized Andrew Youn (Kellogg ’06) and Njideka Harry (Kellogg ’12) along with 22 others in a ceremony in New York City on Feb. 15, according to a Kellogg news release.

Youn secured the honor for his work as founder and executive director of One Acre Fund, an organization that provides small-scale farmers with technological and financial solutions. Founded in 2006, the group serves 135,000 farm families with services such as education, group formation, payment, market and seed and fertilizer delivery.

The Schwab Foundation recognized Harry for founding the Youth for Technology Foundation, which connects communities of marginalized women and children with technology. Harry works with youth and women in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, teaching them how to use computers and the Internet to advance individual opportunities. Assisting more than a quarter of a million people since its founding in 2000, the organization has reached disadvantaged areas in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda, Latin America and the United States.

Schwab’s social entrepreneur global network has grown to more than 200 since the award was instituted in 1998. Candidates and their social enterprises are selected based on six different criteria, including the extent to which they spur meaningful social change, the organizational sustainability of their projects, the proven social or environmental impact and individuals’ ability to serve as an ambassador for the foundation.

— Lauren Caruba