Piyush Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of CarePal Group and Impact Guru, has been honored with the prestigious 2025 Alumni Innovation Award by the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Alumni Board at Harvard University. Jain, a 2013 graduate of the Master’s in Public Policy Program at HKS, was selected from a highly competitive pool for his transformative contributions to healthcare financing in India.
Over the past decade, Impact Guru, incubated at the Harvard Innovation Labs, has supported over 50,000 patients and engaged 4.5 million donors globally. This achievement underscores Jain’s leadership in leveraging technology-driven innovation to address complex healthcare challenges and create significant social impact.
The Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Innovation Award recognizes alumni who demonstrate exceptional leadership, creativity, and dedication to driving positive change for individuals and communities through technology. Beyond Impact Guru, Piyush Jain has also co-founded CarePal Money, a 0% interest healthcare lending marketplace that has facilitated access to non-critical treatments for over 1,200 patients in 18 months, and CarePal Secure, a health protection and insurance marketplace serving over 200,000 customers, addressing the underinsured population in India.
Piyush Jain received the award at the Harvard Kennedy School on Friday, May 16, 2025, during the alumni reunion weekend.
Expressing his gratitude, Piyush Jain said, “I’m deeply honored to receive the Alumni Innovation Award from Harvard Kennedy School. This recognition holds special meaning for me, as ImpactGuru (and CarePal) was first ideated during my time as a student as part of a PAE (Policy Analysis Exercise) project and incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab. What began as an academic exploration has grown into a real-world mission — to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for millions of families across India and beyond. I’m sincerely grateful to the faculty, classmates, and the ecosystem at HKS and Harvard that encouraged bold ideas and purpose-driven entrepreneurship.”
He further added, “I am privileged to share this incredible honour with my co-founders, dedicated teammates, supportive investors, compassionate hospital partners and doctors, brave patients and their families, generous donors, and all our insurance and lending partners who have always believed in our mission. We are committed to working tirelessly on our mission to ensure that no one dies due to a lack of funds for healthcare in India and positively supporting over 1 million customers’ healthcare financing needs by 2030.”
Other notable awardees at Harvard this year included Natalia Gavrilita, former Prime Minister of Moldova, and Sebastian Burduja, Romania’s Minister of Energy.
Key Highlights:
- Piyush Jain, Co-Founder & CEO of CarePal Group and Impact Guru, received the 2025 Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Innovation Award.
- He was recognized for his impactful work in healthcare financing in India through platforms like Impact Guru, CarePal Money, and CarePal Secure.
- Impact Guru has supported over 50,000 patients and engaged 4.5 million donors globally.
- Jain expressed his honor and reiterated his commitment to making healthcare more affordable and accessible in India.