These Two Amazing Maltese Initiatives Won Over €80,000 At This Year’s Social Impact Awards
Two Maltese social initiatives have been recognised and rewarded for their contribution to bettering society at the Malta Social Impact Awards last Saturday.
Fair Artificial Intelligence Educator (FAIE) and The Wellness Pod were both awarded funding, amounting to a combined total of €83,500, as well as non-financial support.
FAIE, lead by Professor Alexiei Dingli, is an app aimed at optimising the learning of students through personalised forms of online education. It received the largest sum of financial support at €50,000.
“MSIA was an incredible opportunity to develop my idea further and to test its feasibility. The idea behind FAIE came about when I was helping my own kids with their homework. I wondered what other kids go through if they have no one to help them. Thanks to MSIA, I can now help those children as well. For this, I am incredibly grateful,” Prof. Dingli said.
The Wellness Pod, an initiative of the Karl Vella Foundation, was the other big winner, winning two financial awards worth €20,000 and €13,500
This program supports the foundation by offering structured, professional psycho-educationa; programmes to children in families dealing with serious illness, grief and loss.
“We are honoured, proud and humbled to be one of the winners of the Malta Social Impact Award 2019 and also for winning the Audience Award. These awards will enable us to improve the quality of our services and to reach out to more families in need,” Claire Chircop, Co-Founder and Chairperson of The Karl Vella Foundation, said.
Both FAIE and the Wellness Pod were also awarded pro bono mentoring and advisory services with some of Malta’s leading businesses and, although they may have been the biggest winners of the night, they weren’t the only ones.
The general public was also given the opportunity to vote for one of the MSIA 2019 semi-finalists through a People’s Award, which was awarded to Jacob’s Brew with a €1,000 cash prize, as well as incubation at TAKEOFF at the University of Malta, and a ZAAR crowdfunding campaign.
For the first time ever, the MSIA also held a Malta Social Impact Fair with over 50 change-makers on exhibit to the general public and to over 190 businesses and philanthropists that were attending the Awards event later that evening. The aim of the Fair was to give voluntary organisations and social initiatives the chance to get exposure and support.