ESG & Sustainability Awards 2024 Health Comms Awards Shortlist PRmoment Leaders PRmoment Masterclass: The Agency Growth Forum

RiseUp PR 2024: Jury Set to Decide Winners of Student Case Study Competition with Rs. 150,000 Prize Money - A PRmoment and Hill and Knowlton Initiative

The stage is all set. And the countdown to announcing the winners of the 2nd edition of RiseUp PR has begun. The jury will pick the top 3 winners, with the top winning team receiving Rs. 150,000/- in prize money.

Jury Meeting: 7th March, 2024 

PRmoment and Hill and Knowlton are now getting ready to welcome the jury and the participating students for the final PR campaign presentations to be held on March 7th: 

Rise Up Edition 2 Participating Colleges

The final winners will be announced on 11 March 2024.

Abhishek Gulyani

"This is the best time to be in the PR industry. In a constantly evolving world, advisory, data insights and creativity are going to be central requirements for future communications professionals. With this mentoring platform, we are attempting to expose future PR professionals to access the latest thinking on these key aspects of the evolving PR job. The mentoring process also introduces them to the sheer excitement of working in PR. Platforms such as RiseUP PR can therefore unlock the potential of future communicators and they play a critical role in shaping industry-ready professionals and helping them soar," said Abhishek Gulyani, CEO, of Hill and Knowlton India.

This edition of RiseUP PR has grown in many aspects. When we announced the launch of the second edition, we sent out participation invites to 20 of India's top colleges and institutes that offer PR and mass communication courses. We heard back from the top 6 and are indeed very grateful to each of these institutes and the academicians that supported it.

Here is a glimpse of what they said about the RiseUp PR initiative:

Academia Views on RiseUp PR 

Prof Diwakar Shukla, JLU

Prof. Diwakar Shukla, Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Creative Studies at Jagran Lakecity University said, "RiseUp PR is a critical opportunity that allows industry and academia to come together and build a new framework of insightful co-learning. It also allows for the nurturing of young talent and immerses them in the world of action. It has been an absolute delight for me to be part of RiseUp PR and my support and best wishes to them always."

Hemant Gaule, SCoRe

Hemant Gaule, Dean of, the School of Communications & Reputation (SCoRe) said, "Participating in RiseUP PR+ has been an incredible opportunity for our students. At SCoRe, experiential learning is a crucial element of our learning approach; where our students step into the shoes of a PR professional. Platforms like RiseUP PR, which let communications students experience thinking like a reputation engineer, and receive guidance from leaders of PR in the process, are invaluable. Thanks to PRMoment India and the partners at RiseUP PR+ for creating this avenue for communications students in India. Going forward, I would be eager to see this platform expand to more communications institutions and students."

Dr Anubhuti Yadav, IIMC Delhi

 Prof. (Dr.) Anubhuti Yadav, Head of, the Department of New Media & Technology Course Director, Advertising and Public Relations at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication said, "RiseUp PR," a dynamic young talent promotion event, has emerged as an excellent initiative bridging the industry and academia gap for mutual benefit. Observing emerging talents showcase their skills under the mentorship of industry experts is a heartening professional experience. My students actively participate and eagerly anticipate the next edition. This event not only fosters healthy competition among students but also effectively bridges the gap between industry and academia, creating an environment that encourages collaboration and promotes an enriching learning environment.

Moushumi Dutt, RiseUp PR

Moushumi Dutt, Director, of RiseUp PR, stated, "As new age economies and new avenues of businesses open up, roles and opportunities for PR and communications professionals are going to be exciting. Therefore programs like RiseUP PR +, serve as a great starting point, for these young professionals to get closest to what lies ahead."

The RiseUp PR Approach 

RiseUP is a unique program in every way. Designed exclusively for students studying mass communication, this program is steered and guided by PR industry experts who take their time out to mentor the participating teams and guide them, from reviewing their insights and ideas to giving them tips on their presentation slides. This is a big bonus for all the participants. Thank you to all the mentors!


The jury is carefully curated, and we are delighted to see the abundance of generous and gracious professionals who come on board and give us their time. All our jury members will listen, question, and rank all the participating teams. Their final scores will decide and declare the winners:

What the RiseUp PR winners get

 The winners stand a chance to win a lakh and fifty INR and, of course, the opportunity to get an internship with HK. That's again a first for any contest. Our last-year winners  Jahanvee Achantani and Mansha Pant from Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal are enjoying their first professional PR workplace and have earned their place, won the love, and been able to impress their clients and managers. 

JLU winning team with Abhishek Gulyani:  Jahanvee Achantani, Mansha Pant


Now, we await the second batch of contestants. 

Thank you again to all the principals and directors for giving us your students, to the RiseUP mentors, to our jury and, of course, to the brilliant team at Hill and Knowlton India, led by Abhishek Gulyani, CEO, Hill and Knowlton India for conceiving an idea and a program which is aptly titled RiseUp PR+

The RiseUp+ Edition 2 Colleges, Mentor Panel and Jury

One 3-member team from each of the following 6 national participating colleges are taking part in the first edition of RiseUP PR + 2024.  

Participating Colleges 

IIMC Delhi, Delhi 
School of COmmunications & REputation, Mumbai
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Jagran Lakecity University Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

St. Joseph's College, Bangalore

Christ University, Bangalore


The RiseUp PR + 2024 mentors are:

Heena Kanal, Sr. vice president & head corporate communications & archives, Cipla

Aditee Dutta, manager of communications and policy, Azure Power

Amrita Sarna, communications lead, Unilever International

Varghese Thomas, chief communications officer, Greaves Cotton Limited

Seema Siddiqui, senior corporate communications professional

Diksha Verma, PR and communications specialist, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Bhavya Sharma, director - communications & ESG, Urban Company

Shubhangi Mehta, Global Channels marketing leader, Soroco

Bhavna Imran, communications leader - South Asia, Corteva Agriscience

Jasrita Dhir, director of marketing and communications, Karkinos Healthcare

Mrinall Dey, vice president & head - PR & Corporate Communications, MobiKwik

The RiseUp PR+ Jury 

Jury co-chair: Nandini Chatterjee, former chief marketing & communications Officer, PwC India

Jury co-chair: Abhishek Gulyani, CEO, Hill and Knowlton Strategies India

Siddharth Vinayak Patankar, chief creative office, Acko 

Sujit Patil, vice president and head - corporate brand and communications, Godrej Industries Limited and Associate Companies

Gayatri Rath, international markets communications, GE Aerospace

Rohit Dubey, vice president - corporate communications & advocacy, Jio

Roopa Nagaraju, head of marketing and public relations, Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions

Deepa Dey, head communication & sustainability, nutrition and special projects, Hindustan Unilever Limited

Neeta Linz, general manager, LG Electronics


If you enjoyed this article, you can subscribe for free to our weekly event and subscriber alerts.

We have four email alerts in total - covering ESG, PR news, events and awards. Enter your email address below to find out more: