The Spirit of Innovation

The Rolex Awards for Enterprise offers not just financial support to laureates affecting social change on a global level, but also affords a platform to network with other accomplished philanthropists, scientists and explorers. Karishma Tulsidas joins the award’s 40th anniversary celebrations in Los Angeles and meets the newly elected laureates.

It was four days after the US presidential elections: Donald Trump had been elected as the new leader, and I had just landed in Los Angeles upon the invitation of Rolex to attend its biannual Awards for Enterprise ceremony. The mood, inevitably, was subdued and the City of Angels’ lustre dulled by a sense of foreboding.

“In these tough times” is a phrase that I have heard being used a lot lately—but my state of mind before and after the trip was completely different. You see, I had just met an incredible bunch of people, from scientists to explorers and philanthropists, who had dedicated their lives to bettering the world.

They were conservationists, doctors, engineers and explorers who had one thing in common: a single-minded doggedness that had pushed them to preserve forgotten cultures, conserve the environment and aid fringe communities that had not kept up with the march of advancement. They were all recipients of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, an accolade giving them the financial means to pursue their enterprising endeavours, as well as the recognition affording them a gateway to other grants.

The year 2016 marked the 40th anniversary of the Rolex Awards, and the Swiss watchmaker took the opportunity to fete the milestone with a large-scale celebration in Los Angeles. It commemorated five laureates and five young laureates who had been selected by a jury of prominent visionaries. Over three days, some of the greatest minds in science, technology and exploration were given a platform to meet and mingle through a series of workshops, seminars and networking sessions.

TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE