# Joe Madiath

Joe Madiath is an Indian social entrepreneur. He is founder and former executive director of Gram Vikas, a non-governmental organization based in an Indian state of Odisha, which highlights water and sanitation concerns faced by various rural communities and tribal groups like the Adivasis.

## Early life

Joe Madiath's social activism began at the age of 12, when he helped organize young workers who were employed by his own father, helping them fight for better work conditions. As a result, his father sent him away to Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian Boy's High School, a boarding school in Tangasseri, Kollam, Kerala. Years later, his father finally accepted his son's views and became supportive of his work as a social entrepreneur.
Madiath studied English literature at the University of Madras, where he was elected the President of the students' union at Loyola College, Chennai. There, he founded the Young Students' Movement for Development (YSMD). During this time, he also cycled solo across India, gaining insights into the plight of the poor.
In 1971, Madiath led 400 YSMD volunteers to West Bengal to manage relief camps for refugees from the Bangladesh Liberation War. Witnessing the devastation of the 1971 Odisha cyclone, and realising the comparatively little attention received by victims of the disaster, Madiath and a small group of volunteers shifted their attention there. Once their relief efforts were completed, Madiath and a few colleagues from the YSMD decided to stay in Odisha to work as development activists. On invitation from the district authorities, they moved to Ganjam district in 1976 to begin work with adivasi communities. In 1979, Madiath founded Gram Vikas.

## Work with Gram Vikas

Since 1979, with Joe Madiath serving as executive director, Gram Vikas has worked mostly with adivasi communities in rural Orissa on a number of development projects, including biogas promotion, community forestry, rural habitat development, and education. The bulk of Gram Vikas' efforts have focused on water and sanitation solutions for the rural poor of Odhisa.
Gram Vikas uses the "universally important needs of drinking water and sanitation" to bring villagers together and realise how collective action can lead to gains for the community. The fundamentals of Gram Vikas' approach are 100% participation from all villagers, with "clearly defined stakes and mechanisms for institutional and financial sustainability."

## Work on water & sanitation

Madiath focused on water and sanitation as the entry point in the village development work, partnering with village communities to regenerate thousands of hectares of "wasteland,”eliminating open defecation, significantly reducing waterborne disease incidences, building disaster-proof houses, enabling thousands of women to lead village institutions, educate hundreds of girls, and more. By 2018, Gram Vikas has reached 83,000 households with water and sanitation services mainly in Odhisa, but also in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.

## Work on education

Joe Madiath has also founded four tribal residential schools collectively called Gram Vikas Residential School serving the kids of tribal community in remote villages in Ganjam, Gajapati, and Kalahandi districts of Odisha. The school caters to over 1,200 tribal kids and features an active sports program, science and innovation program, arts and design program, and a government funded Atal Tinkering Lab which was started in 2018.

## Awards
### Personal recognition

* Asian Development Bank's Water Champion Award
* Schwab Foundation's Outstanding Social Entrepreneur
* Godfrey Phillips Red and White Bravery Award – Social Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)
* Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa – Gurukul Lutheran Theological College
* Lok Samman Award (2009)
* Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Work by Parichay Foundation (2016)

### Awarded to Gram Vikas

| Year | Title |
| 1995 1996 | Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award |
| 1998 | Dr. K.S. Rao Memorial National Award |
| 2001 | Global Development Network – Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project |
| 2003 | World Habitat Award |
| 2003 | Tech Museum Awards Laureate – Accenture Economic Development Award |
| 2006 | Kyoto World Water Grand Prize |
| 2006 | Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship |
| 2006 | Winner – Ashoka Changemakers Competition |
| 2009 2010 | UNESCO Water Digest Best Water NGO Award |