Patmanathan Pillai

Patmanathan Pillai is a Teacher, Businessman and Social Entrepreneur. He has previously held executive directorships in the media industry, e.g. Primedia. He was a News Anchor and Executive Producer, having been in broadcast media for 22 years in various roles with the SABC and, more recently, 10 years at ETV News.In 1997, Pat founded Life College (which merged with UnLtd SA in 2014) to become LifeCo UnLtd SA which develops a champion mentality and also finds, funds and supports social and environmental entrepreneurs. LCU-SA a social enterprise – 100% owned and governed by a trust, the group has R110m in assets, operates nationally and has reached 112 000 students and 5000 young entrepreneurs to date, with just over 124 established entrepreneurs in its network currently. LCU-SA is a founder member of the Global Social Entrepreneur Network (along with and UnLtd UK and UnLtd India).He was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2007 for his work at Life College. Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. Pat was also selected as an Ashoka Globalizer Fellow - a group of 35 Ashoka Fellows drawn from approximately 3 600 fellows who have social enterprises that are most likely to replicate globally.