MUMBAI and YEREVAN — Russian-Armenian impact investors and social entrepreneurs Ruben Vardanyan and Veronika Zonabend have collaborated with Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, a global group of companies based in India, committing together to $7.5 million in funding to provide need-based scholarships to meritorious students worldwide to study at one of the UWC (United World Colleges) schools and colleges.
UWC is a global education movement with the mission to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. UWC comprises a network of 17 international schools and colleges on four continents and a system of volunteer-run national committees in 159 countries and territories worldwide that select UWC’s scholars independent of socio-economic means.
All three philanthropists are strong supporters of the UWC educational movement – Vardanyan and Zonabend founded UWC Dilijan in Armenia in 2014, and Mahindra Group, led by Anand Mahindra, established UWC Mahindra College in India in 1997.
Under the new commitment, Mahindra Group will contribute INR 150 million (approximately US$ 2.3 million) over the next five years to support need-based scholarships for students admitted to UWC Mahindra College. Half of this gift will provide scholarship grants for Indian students, while the rest will be used for scholarship grants for students selected through UWC national committees outside India.
In parallel, the Scholae Mundi Foundation, founded by Vardanyan and Zonabend, has allocated approximately $5.2 million to fund need-based scholarships for the coming academic year; of that, $3.7 million will be dedicated to scholarships for international students selected to study at UWC Dilijan in Armenia. The remaining $1.5 million will be allocated to scholarships for students from Armenia, Georgia and Russia to study at one of the other 16 UWC schools and colleges, including UWC Mahindra College. The Scholae Mundi Foundation has already announced a continued commitment in the years to come to enable future scholarship funding.
