Mumbai: The Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) announced that Indian advertising icon Ramesh Narayan had been selected as the winner in the Individual Leader category of its Changemakers For Good Awards by an elite PanAsian Jury which included Gary Chi Vice Chairman, TAAA / CEO, Dentsu Creative Taiwan, Kyungsin Kim from Korea, Aly Mustansir from Pakistan and Sangeeta Pendurkar CEO Pantaloons at Aditya Birla Group.
The Changemakers For Good awards are unique as they evaluate the societal good that Marcom professionals have done and highlight a very different side of the profession.
The judging is done in two phases. A national jury selects winners in their respective countries and these winners are in turn judged by the Pan Asian jury to arrive at the final winners who will be felicitated at the prestigious AdAsia 25 conference on the 25th October in Beijing.
Ramesh Narayan has been known as the person who conceived of the respected Olive Crown Awards and IAA Leadership Awards, as a Gender Warrior, a Climate Warrior(awarded by Earthday.Org) and as the person behind the many cause-related campaigns at the IAA India Chapter, on subjects ranging from elder care to autism to natural calamities and voter apathy. He is also known for the widely acclaimed Bhavishya Yaan a student enrichment program he started at the Rotary Club of Bombay , Ananda Yaan an Elder Daycare program he started, the Lighthouse Project for tiny tots in a Cuffe Parade slum and for the active interest he takes in rural upliftment and the environment. He has personally planted over 3500 trees including a 900 tree Miyawaki Forest at Cuffe Parade. He is passionate about animal care and recently made a film on adoption of street dogs.
Sometimes called the most awarded person in the advertising industry Narayan has been inducted into the Hall of Fame at AFAA and the India Chapter of the IAA. He has been conferred an Honorary Member status by the Global IAA and AFAA and has been given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Advertising Agencies Association of India, besides the Global Champion Award by the IAA, to name just a few of his awards. He has been honoured as Rotarian of the Year thrice and has won several awards at the Rotary District level.
Narayan has also played a key role in helping organize the AdAsia 2003 in Jaipur, the AdAsia 2011 in New Delhi and the IAA World Congress in 2019.
