Inspirational Ranjna is EY award finalist for 2016
The Nirvana story began in 1977 when Dr Kantilal Patel and his wife Ranjna took over a solo GP clinic in Otara. Today, their brand of health provision is delivered through affiliated general practices, urgent care clinics, specialist centres, occupational health clinics and pharmacies. Nirvana Health Group has more than 55 sites across New Zealand and Australia and serves more than one million customers a year.
Spearheading its business is Nirvana Health Group Director Ranjna Patel who was announced as a finalist in the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 competition.
The 18 finalists were announced during a special event at the ASB Cube in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter on July 21.
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the world’s most prestigious business awards.
“It’s an honour to be recognised among such an amazing group of business-people. I’m in [a] great company,” Mrs Patel says.
Outside of business hours, she is a strong advocate of helping her community. Mrs Patel and her husband funded and built a Hindu temple that about 500 people regularly visit. Besides this, Ranjna sits on various boards and committees related to various issues in the community. She can be seen enthusiastically supporting and backing projects that involve giving back to the community.
As well as recent work focusing on women’s leadership, one of Mrs Patel’s enduring initiatives is the creation of Gandhi Nivas, a programme focussed on ending domestic violence. She had identified that four out of 14 women killed from family violence were Indian and accounted for 55% of protection orders breached.
Engaging with the police and various counselling services helped her create this long-term generational change programme. Gandhi Nivas has now worked with 225 families and more than a hundred families in the first six months of 2016. Their services are all about early intervention and support. For the month of July, Gandhi Nivas helped 18/22 families that were not Indian.
Stage one of the New Zealand EY competition starts next month and includes a quick-fire question round with judges and a workshop hosted by Villa Maria Wines founder, Sir George Fistonich.
Category winners will be announced at the end of August, and the final winner will be revealed in October. The winner of the New Zealand competition goes on to vie for the title of Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year in Monaco.
Speaking to Indian Weekender, Ranjna said, "I'm very humbled to be named with this group of amazing people. And very humbled by the messages of encouragement I've received. What makes me really proud, though, is being the first Indian-New Zealander to make it to this stage of the competition. There are many, many more amazing entrepreneurs in our community, and I hope my achievements will encourage them to be part of this programme next year."
The Nirvana story began in 1977 when Dr Kantilal Patel and his wife Ranjna took over a solo GP clinic in Otara. Today, their brand of health provision is delivered through affiliated general practices, urgent care clinics, specialist centres, occupational health clinics and pharmacies. Nirvana...
The Nirvana story began in 1977 when Dr Kantilal Patel and his wife Ranjna took over a solo GP clinic in Otara. Today, their brand of health provision is delivered through affiliated general practices, urgent care clinics, specialist centres, occupational health clinics and pharmacies. Nirvana Health Group has more than 55 sites across New Zealand and Australia and serves more than one million customers a year.
Spearheading its business is Nirvana Health Group Director Ranjna Patel who was announced as a finalist in the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 competition.
The 18 finalists were announced during a special event at the ASB Cube in Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter on July 21.
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year is one of the world’s most prestigious business awards.
“It’s an honour to be recognised among such an amazing group of business-people. I’m in [a] great company,” Mrs Patel says.
Outside of business hours, she is a strong advocate of helping her community. Mrs Patel and her husband funded and built a Hindu temple that about 500 people regularly visit. Besides this, Ranjna sits on various boards and committees related to various issues in the community. She can be seen enthusiastically supporting and backing projects that involve giving back to the community.
As well as recent work focusing on women’s leadership, one of Mrs Patel’s enduring initiatives is the creation of Gandhi Nivas, a programme focussed on ending domestic violence. She had identified that four out of 14 women killed from family violence were Indian and accounted for 55% of protection orders breached.
Engaging with the police and various counselling services helped her create this long-term generational change programme. Gandhi Nivas has now worked with 225 families and more than a hundred families in the first six months of 2016. Their services are all about early intervention and support. For the month of July, Gandhi Nivas helped 18/22 families that were not Indian.
Stage one of the New Zealand EY competition starts next month and includes a quick-fire question round with judges and a workshop hosted by Villa Maria Wines founder, Sir George Fistonich.
Category winners will be announced at the end of August, and the final winner will be revealed in October. The winner of the New Zealand competition goes on to vie for the title of Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year in Monaco.
Speaking to Indian Weekender, Ranjna said, "I'm very humbled to be named with this group of amazing people. And very humbled by the messages of encouragement I've received. What makes me really proud, though, is being the first Indian-New Zealander to make it to this stage of the competition. There are many, many more amazing entrepreneurs in our community, and I hope my achievements will encourage them to be part of this programme next year."
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