Matthew Spacie (GB)

In 1999, Matthew established Magic Bus, which he has grown from a small group of volunteers conducting informal rugby sessions and one-off outdoor camps for disadvantaged children in Mumbai, into a multiple award-winning, large-scale NGO working to move millions of children and youth from highly marginalised communities out of poverty. The Magic Bus programme uses a 7 year format, taking an individual in at the age of 12 through a journey from childhood to livelihood. When Matthew created Magic Bus at the age of 29, he was the COO of Cox and Kings, India’s largest holiday tour operator. In 2001 he left his role at Cox and Kings and dedicated all his time to Magic Bus. In 2006, Matthew also cofounded cleartrip.com, which he and his partnership team built into a US $1.2 billion per annum online travel business making it one of the largest online travel companies in South Asia and the Middle East. He has been elected an Ashoka Fellow, a TED Fellow and as an Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy (ACSEP) Fellow. Matthew was recognised as India’s Top ED influencers by Scoo News in January ’18 and has also won the Business Standard Social Entrepreneur of the year in March 2018. In 2007, Matthew was awarded an MBE for services to children to the Commonwealth. He has been awarded international rugby caps for India and playing in the World Cup Qualifiers in 2001. Matthew has also been an Olympic torch bearer at the London 2012 Olympic games. Matthew is currently Executive Chairman of Magic Bus Global, leading operations in India, Singapore, US, UK, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal. He was on the Etihad Airways Advisory Board and currently sits on the Global Board of DASRA. Matthew is a UK Citizen and lives in Mumbai with his family.