Neichute Doulo

Doulo taught economics to undergraduate students at Baptist College, Kohima, between 1998 and 2000. He resigned from that post to work full time on building entrepreneurship in Nagaland, and has since served as guest faculty on entrepreneurship at several institutions.

Entrepreneurs Associates, which Doulo founded in 2000 and where he serves as chief executive and coordinator, supports first-generation entrepreneurs in Nagaland and Manipur with training, mentoring and access to credit. The organisation reports that more than 2,700 enterprises supported by it are running and that over 3,500 farmers receive direct support for sustainable cultivation, with work associated with the creation of around 15,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Ashoka, which elected him a fellow, described his work as defusing the frustration of young people in Nagaland by building a new generation of socially responsible business entrepreneurs, and as an attempt to redirect youth away from substance abuse and anti-social activity.

Doulo has served as a Grade-A National Resource Person with the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, as a member of a NITI Aayog standing committee on livelihoods and financial inclusion, and on Nagaland's state-level audit advisory board.

Doulo was awarded a fellowship by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public in 2000, becoming the first Naga recipient of the international Ashoka Fellowship. In 2003 he was the fifth recipient of the Naga Mothers' Association Award for developing entrepreneurship in the state, and in 2006 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chakhesang Youth Front.

In 2016 he was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year, India, by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, which works with the World Economic Forum, in partnership with the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation. He was recognised for his contribution to the North East at the Telegraph Northeast Excellence Awards in 2017.[2][3][4][5]