Anu Maria Francis (Associate – Research at CPPR) wins the ALF Think Tank Shark Tank Competition 2022

“Attending the Asia Liberty Forum 2022 was an inspiring and invigorating experience. It was my first Asia Liberty Forum and a memorable one with the winning of the Think Tank-Shark Tank Award 2022. I was quite nervous about competing in the Shark Tank and pitching my idea in front of the think tank fraternity as it was one of its kind.”

Anu Maria Francis

KOCHI: On 30th September 2022, Anu Maria Francis, Research Associate at the Centre for Policy Research (CPPR) won the prestigious Think Tank-Shark Tank 2022 competition at the Asia Liberty Forum 2022 organised by the Atlas Network and the Foundation for Economic Freedom in Manila, Philippines. 

She is the only Indian among the three finalists to have got the opportunity to present a five-minute pitch to an audience of over 500 delegates and a panel of judges for the chance to receive US$10,000 as additional funding for the grant project. Atlas Network’s annual Regional Liberty Forums like the Asia Liberty Forum 2022 bring together partners from the region to discuss challenges facing the region and barriers to individual freedom and prosperity. Think Tank-Shark Tank 2022 is one of the highlights at the Forum spanning panel discussions and talks by a wide range of speakers from across the globe. 

The project Anu Francis pitched at the forum was on ‘Women and Jobs in Hospitality Industry: End Employment Bias’. “Attending the Asia Liberty Forum 2022 was an inspiring and invigorating experience. It was my first Asia Liberty Forum and a memorable one with the winning of the Think Tank-Shark Tank Award 2022. I was quite nervous about competing in the Shark Tank and pitching my idea in front of the think tank fraternity as it was one of its kind,” says Maria Francis. She further says, “This project is the third one of the three integrated projects. Through this third project, CPPR would be focusing on lifting the restrictions faced by women in the hospitality industry to work as mixologists. 

Anu pitches her project, concerning the hospitality sector in Kerala, India, using a wine glass as a prop at the Asia Liberty Forum Think Tank Shark Tank Competition.

Currently we are working on the second project, which is focused towards changing the restrictive laws for women in the factories of Kerala, which aims to enable women to work at night in factories and undertake certain jobs that were deemed as hazardous in the old times and are presently prohibited. A policy report and a policy brief will be submitted to the Kerala government as a guiding document to initiate these essential labour reforms to expand women’s economic inclusion in Kerala.” The first project as part of this integrated project series was initiated in October 2016 in the background of the Model Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 2016. The aim of that project was to improve the working conditions of employees in shops and establishments, create more job opportunities for women in the sector and provide a favourable environment for doing business. The draft of the proposed amendments to the Kerala Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1960, was submitted to the Government of Kerala on March 19, 2018. Subsequently, most of the recommendations provided by CPPR were accepted and incorporated in the Kerala Shops and Commercial Establishments Amendment Act, 2018. 

“These three projects put together will open up more choices for women to decide on what, when and where she should work,” says Maria Francis. 

“Winning the Accelerate Asia Liberty Forum 2022 Think Tank-Shark Tank competition would be one of our celebrated achievements. Having made a promising mark in such a global platform, will help us in achieving our objective of eliminating gender bias in the society. All these platforms help us to bring the prevailing gender inequity to the attention of decision makers and stakeholders”.

Dr. D. Dhanuraj, Chairman, CPPR

Click here for the Media Release by Atlas Network on the Think Tank Shark Tank Competition 2022

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