KISS Humanitarian Award 2025 celebrates Nita Ambani’s philanthropic leadership

On 16 March 2026, the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha will host the ceremony for the KISS Humanitarian Award 2025, honouring Nita M. Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation. The award, instituted to recognise individuals who have made exceptional contributions to humanity, has over the years grown into a globally recognised platform that blends humanitarian recognition with powerful experiential storytelling.

Established by social entrepreneur and educationist Achyuta Samanta, the KISS Humanitarian Award has since its inception in 2008 acknowledged leaders whose work has had a transformative social impact across the world. The ceremony takes place at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, one of the world’s largest residential educational institutions dedicated to tribal children, which currently provides education and holistic development to around 80,000 students.

This year’s award recognises Nita Ambani’s philanthropic leadership through Reliance Foundation, which has worked across education, healthcare, rural transformation, sports development and disaster response in India. Through initiatives aimed at improving access to quality education, strengthening grassroots sports ecosystems and supporting rural communities, the foundation has played a significant role in expanding the scale and reach of structured philanthropy in the country.

The stature of the KISS Humanitarian Award is reflected in its distinguished list of past recipients. Previous honourees include global philanthropic leader Bill Gates, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata, Nobel Laureate and founder of Grameen Bank Muhammad Yunus and spiritual leader Tenzin Gyatso. Other awardees have included international dignitaries such as Rachel Ruto, First Lady of Kenya, and sports administrator Ary S. Graça, President of the International Volleyball Federation.

Over the years, the award has recognised individuals from thirteen countries across five continents, including two Nobel Laureates, positioning it as an important global humanitarian honour emerging from India. The 2026 ceremony will also feature Nobel Laureate Mohan Munasinghe as the chief guest.

Beyond the recognition itself, the event reflects how institutional ceremonies are evolving into experiential platforms that amplify narratives around social impact. Hosted within a campus dedicated to empowering tribal youth through education, the ceremony becomes a live engagement between global changemakers and thousands of students whose futures are shaped by similar ideals of service and development.

In an era where experiential platforms increasingly shape public discourse, the KISS Humanitarian Award demonstrates how recognition events can move beyond symbolic gestures to create immersive spaces for dialogue around philanthropy, leadership and social transformation. The ceremony in Bhubaneswar therefore stands not only as a celebration of humanitarian work but also as a reminder of how experience-driven platforms can inspire the next generation of changemakers.