Coalition for Women Empowerment (CWE) & The Influencers

Gender equality remains an uphill battle across the geographies of rural and urban India. This is a deep-rooted problem that impacts the very core of our society; in some parts of the country, even the most basic rights continue to elude Indian women. The void in public and private spending (including CSR and philanthropy) on women’s rights further weakens programmes working towards inclusion and justice. Non-profits working
in the sector rarely come together to share best practices and imbibe peer learning. This leads to replication and wastage of resources in the same or similar programmes and inhibits much-needed exploration of and experimentation with plausible solutions. Aggregating their work requires the facilitation of a structure and process which would provide for collaboration and convergence in action and knowledge building; while retaining their individualities and enable joint capacity building as well as peer-to-peer learning.

The Coalition for Women Empowerment (CWE) and the The Influencers initiative was born out of this thought.

CWE is a group of committed funder organisations who have partnered through a collaborative, to support small and medium-sized institutions in India, doing rights-based work in women’s rights and gender equality. In addition to grassroots-level activities towards achieving women empowerment, there is a pressing need for continued focus, awareness, and dialogue on the multitude of problems faced by Indian women. These include, but are not limited to, freedom from violence and discrimination, grassroots leadership, access to legal justice, rights and entitlements, and economic independence. To ensure that these concerns are brought to the forefront and addressed through appropriate solutions, the CWE also seeks to involve influential voices to evangelize the need and value of investing in women’s rights.

One such initiative is The Influencers curated by EdelGive. This is a group of iconic leaders and opinionmakers across sectors including business, entertainment, sports, academia and philanthropy. The group is connected by their desire to lend their voice towards enabling millions of nameless, faceless women marginalized by caste, culture, geography, economic status, and other barriers, to participate actively in the social, political, cultural spheres of society. Through their identity, networks, and resources, as well as the financial support of highly impactful programmes, The Influencers, not only facilitate funding towards much-needed efforts but also spread knowledge about the criticality of this work in their networks enabling the women empowerment work to gain traction. .

Anju Gupta
ADG, Uttar Pradesh Police

Anju Gupta, a police officer from 1990 batch IPS, UP Cadre, is currently ADG - Uttar Pradesh Police. An awardee of the President Medal for Distinguished Services and a Gallantry Medal, she has worked in specialised units in eight districts of UP, served eight years in the Central Government, and has stints with the United Nations in Bangkok, Kosovo, and New Delhi.

Anita George
Executive Vice-President, CDPQ India

Anita M. George is Executive Vice-President, Strategic Partnership – Growth Markets. Her mandate is to implement a key pillar of CDPQ’s strategy, which aims to increase its international exposure in targeted growth markets by sourcing the best investment opportunities and developing the organization’s network of sustainable and high-quality local partnerships. She is responsible for growth markets partnerships, and sits on CDPQ’s Executive and Investment-Risk Committees.

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Arathi Shetty
Non-Executive Director, Allcargo Logistics

Arathi Shetty has been integrally involved in the Allcargo’s growth since 1988; which is today India's First & Largest Integrated Logistics Solutions Provider in the private sector. She also spearheads the sustainability initiatives of Allcargo under the Avashya Foundation that works to empower communities in areas such as education, health, environment, women empowerment and sports. The Foundation has also crystallised a dedicated initiative Allcargo Greens which encourages the practice of more environmentally friendly office processes.

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Archana and Amit Chandra
A.T.E. Chandra Foundation

Archana and Amit Chandra are among the most prolific philanthropists in India today. They have been instrumental in channelling a sizeable portion of their personal wealth to philanthropy through the A.T.E. Chandra Foundation that focuses on gender equality and addressing violence against women. Archana is the CEO of Jai Vakeel Foundation & Research Centre. Amit, is the Managing Director of Bain Capital Mumbai.

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Bala Despande
MD, MegaDelta Capital Advisors

A name to reckon with in investment advisory, Bala has close to three decades of experience in managing million dollar portfolios and nurturing enterprises in companies like NEA and ICICI and. Bala’s identity as one of India’s eminent business leaders, and her entrepreneurial acumen will significantly contribute to the Influencers’ journey.

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Nandita Das
Actor, Director, Activist

Nandita Das has acted in more than 40 feature films in 10 different languages, and has been a strong advocate of social justice and human rights, in her reel and real life. She made her directorial debut with Firaaq, in 2008 and in 2018 brought alive the life and works of Saadat Hasan Manto in Manto; both movies won national and global critical acclaim. She is also a celebrity advocate for UNICEF.

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Niranjan Rajadhyaksha
Research Director, IDFC Institute

Niranjan is the Research Director and Senior Fellow at IDFC Institute, a public policy think tank. He provides direction to the Institute’s research programmes. Previously, as the Executive Editor of Mint, a financial daily, he managed the opinion section, wrote the daily editorials and the award-winning Café Economics column. He also helped launch the data journalism initiative at the newspaper.

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Rati Forbes
Director, Forbes Marshall Group

Rati Forbes is a Director of the Forbes Marshall Group and heads the Forbes Foundation. She has been recognized for her social initiatives both within the company and in the wider world. She chaired Confederation of Indian Industry’s western region cell for social development, whose main objective is to sensitize corporate entities to their social responsibilities. She also serves on the boards of several foundations and non-profits across India. Rati graduated in Psychology with Honors and Sociology from the University of Mumbai and has also taken special courses in human resources, organizational behavior and strategic philanthropy. Rati also holds a Masters in Sustainability Management and Leadership from Cambridge University.

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Samir Patil
Founder & CEO, Scroll Inc.

Samir Patil is the publisher of Scroll, a digital news publication that now has more than 10 million unique visitors a month, more than any other web-only news site in India. Scroll’s goal is to add critical perspectives to these stories through rigorous reporting, objective analyses, and expert commentary. Before Scroll, Samir founded ACK Media (2007), which grew to become India’s largest children’s media company. Prior to ACK, Samir was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, New York.

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Shalni Arora
Founder & CEO, Savannah Wisdom

Shalni Arora sold her biotechnology firm and founded Savannah Wisdom in 2011, an independent foundation which partners with charities and not for profit organisations with game changing initiatives in areas such as legal rights, child protection, corruption and peace and security. She also manages the B&M Community Fund, part of the Corporate and Social Responsibility division at B&M Retail Plc.

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Shreevar Kheruka
MD, Borosil Glassworks Ltd.

Shreevar Kheruka is the Managing Director of Borosil Glassworks Ltd. which is one of India's leading consumer brands. A staunch believer in innovation and in the power of a group of leaders to bring about collective change, beyond individual efforts, Shreevar, through the Borosil Foundation, supports the development of Olympic sport in India, self-sufficiency for farmers in Maharashtra's Parli district as well as various educational initiatives.

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Svati and Satyajit Bhatkal
Co-creators, Satyamev Jayate

Conceivers of a show that exposed the country to the inconvenient truths that co-exist with the narrative of India’s development, and then led by example, exhorting one to act beyond the activism and advocacy; Svati and Satyajit through Satyamev Jayate and now the Paani Foundation continue to demonstrate the power of collectivised individual intent in social transformation.

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Sushmita & Ashish Kacholia
Lucky Securities

Ashish and Sushmita Kacholia are an unconventional power couple who are known to be discreet and understated about their engagement in philanthropy. They both have over 25 years of experience in managing proprietary equities investment books exceeding INR 2000 cr. (AUM) as well as private equity and M&A on one side and Hospitality and Real Estate related projects.

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Team Sankalp

Team Sankalp aspires to be the tech bridge between NGOs and the women survivors of violence. Its members leverage their expertise in domains like oil and gas, insurance, tech products, ERP and finance, and engage with a set of select NGOs and collectives like Jan Sahas and AALI and offer technological assistance.

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Vidya Shah
Founder & CEO, EdelGive Foundation

Vidya Shah, former CFO of the Edelweiss Group has over the last ten years built the EdelGive Foundation to catalyse synergies between the for-profit and the non-profit world for social development. The force behind EdelGive’s brand of collaborative philanthropy, she is committed to nurture the philanthropic ecosystem by facilitating linkages between the users and providers of philanthropic capital, resources and knowledge between both sectors. She is also on the boards of various organisations like Rothschild, AVPN, Common Purpose, etc.

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Zia Mody
Founder & Senior Partner, AZB & Partners

One of India’s foremost corporate lawyers, Zia Mody has established a successful corporate law practice, known to be predominantly a male bastion. Zia features as No. 1 on Fortune India’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2018, has been recognised as a Top 13 female Acritas Star globally by Acritas Star 2018. She has been name as one of the 300 IFLR1000 Women Leaders in 2018. Zia has also featured in Global Investigation Review’s Women in Investigations 2018.

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Influencer Bulletin - May
Vol III, Issue XIV

As we bring you this issue, the country finds itself in the throes of another wave of the pandemic. Like during the first wave around this time last year, our partner NGOs are once again at the forefront of relief work. Read on to learn about the needs highlighted by Nishtha, Sanjog, CORO.

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Influencer Bulletin - April
Vol III, Issue XIII

In this issue, we bring to you updates from KMVS and Mann Deshi Foundation, and a story of change from CORO’s ‘Single Women’s Organisation’ initiative in Marathwada, Maharashtra, in the words of one of its core team members Laxmi Waghmare.

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Influencer Bulletin - March
Vol III, Issue XII

In this issue we bring to you updates from our coalition partner Mann Deshi’s collaborative work towards advancing women’s livelihood capabilities. Further we provide a glimpse of the work done by our partner Coro and Milaan in raising their voice against gender based violence and discrimination.

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Influencer Bulletin - February
Vol III, Issue XI

In this issue, we bring to you updates from our coalition partners CORO, Jan Sahas and Mann Deshi’s extensive on-ground work towards social and economic empowerment of women. Delve in further for glimpses of IT for Change’s three-part webinar series on “Cyber Violence and Hate Speech”.

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Influencer Bulletin - January
Vol III, Issue X

In this issue, we bring to you updates from our coalition partner Jan Sahas’ extensive work on freedom from violence and discrimination. We also reflect upon the work and journey of ITforChange and Sanjog in ensuring gender equality in all spheres of life.

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Influencer Bulletin - December
Vol III, Issue IX

In this issue, we bring to you updates from our grassroots coalition partners Mann Deshi Foundation, CORO and Shaheen’s efforts to facilitate gender-sensitive dialogues. Read more about EdelGive’s #Udyamstree initiative focused on empowering women entrepreneurship.

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Influencer Bulletin - November
Vol III, Issue VIII

In this issue, we bring to you updates from our coalition partners Mann Deshi and Ibtada’s extensive work towards promoting women’s economic empowerment, education and skill development. Read more about the policy level work done by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) towards empowering women during pandemic.

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Influencer Bulletin - October
Vol III, Issue VII

In this issue, we bring to you updates from our coalition partner AALI’s extensive work towards women’s access to justice. Further, we provide a glimpse of the work done by our partner Shaheen in raising their voice against the Hathras case. Also, join us in celebrating the EdelGive Foundation’s digital campaign Udyam Stree that aims to empower women entrepreneurs.

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Influencer Bulletin - September
Vol III, Issue VI

In this issue, we bring to you highlights from our grassroots partners ANANDI, CORO India, Sanjog and Milaan to give you a glimpse of the significant developments and efforts made by them towards increasing the participation of women, hearing their voice, giving them their choice and in a way reflecting the concerns of the women.

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Influencer Bulletin - August
Vol III, Issue V

This issue brings updates from the grassroots by Jan Sahas and Mann Deshi, to highlight the power of collaborative action and address these worries. Read more about the voices from the ground from Ibtada, KMVS and how the work of IT for change is sensitising audience at a larger scale.

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Influencer Bulletin - July
Vol III, Issue IV

Forcing families to stay at home, the lockdown has fostered stress, insecurity and violence towards women and girls affecting their mental health and well-being. While such challenges continue to persist, opportunities for change have also been witnessed.

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Influencer Bulletin - June
Vol III, Issues III

Gender inequalities have been inevitably intensified with the pandemic and the unprecedented cyclone altogether. In this issue, we will learn about the various interventions our grassroots organisations have been leading from the front to navigate through the crisis.

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Influencers Bulletin - May
Vol III, Issues II

This issue highlights how partners have leveraged technology to bridge systemic gaps, shares highlights of a survey by Ibtada on the success of the Government-engineered COVID relief through Jan Dhan accounts, and gives a glimpse into the life of one of CORO’s grassroot leaders.

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Influencer Bulletin - April
Vol III, Issue I

This issue brings to you updates on the grassroots work for COVID relief initiated by our partner NGOs, ranging from provision of essential supplies (ration, medicine and sanitization kits), and mitigation of psychosocial stress through mental health support initiatives along with prudent measures to curb the spread of misinformation as they navigate through a phase of uncertainties.

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Influencers Bulletin – March
Vol II, Issue XII

This issue brings you updates I-Witness visit and Breakthrough India's campaign against on screen gender based violence. Read more about Sanjog's work towards building grassroots leadership and also, join us as we celebrate ANANDI and Milaan's work on empowering women.

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Influencers Bulletin – February
Vol II, Issue XI

In this issue, we bring you updates from the I Witness field visits to the grassroots and ‘Jan Sahas’ social marathon against sexual abuse. We also celebrate AALI’s work towards women’s access to justice and Ibtada’s achievement at the 3rd PoleStar Social Impact Award!

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Influencers Bulletin – January
Vol II, Issue X

This month, as we mark the beginning of the new year, we bring to you highlights from the discussions facilitated at the thought-provoking Working Group on Philanthropy for Gender Equality convening. Also, get a glimpse into the four-day Mann Deshi Mahotsav which was an overwhelming evidence to the power of rural women entrepreneurship.

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Influencers Bulletin – December
Vol II, Issue IX

This issue brings you updates from ANANDI, Milaan and Sanjog’s journey of initiating and facilitating gender sensitive dialogues at both, global and national level.

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Influencers Bulletin – November
Vol II, Issue VIII

In this issue, we bring to you updates from the Evidence and Gender workshop held at EDGE 2019 along with insights from Sanjog’s journey of fighting stigma. We will also discuss about IT for Change and CORO India’s efforts with the community, in addressing their issues around transport and water.

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Influencers Bulletin – October
Vol II, Issue VII

In this issue, we bring you updates from our grassroots coalition partners Breakthrough India, Nishtha, Mann Deshi Foundation and Shaheen Women Resource and Welfare Association.

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Influencers Bulletin – September
Vol II, Issue VI

In this issue, we bring you a glimpse of the commendable efforts of our Influencers – Team Sankalp and Ms. Anju Gupta and their intent coming to action. Read more about our implementing partners - IT for Change, Milaan and EdelGive Foundation’s collaborative efforts with Ibtada and Leap For Word in Alwar.

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Influencers Bulletin – August
Vol II, Issue V

In this issue, we bring you updates from I-Witness, a field visit initiative wherein representatives of the group visited Girls Resource Centres operated by our NGO partner Vacha. Read about the various perspectives on the recently passed Triple Talaq bill and join us in celebrating the work and journey of our grassroots coalition partners Jan Sahas and KMVS.

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Influencers Bulletin – July
Vol II, Issue IV

This issue brings you updates from the second Influencers meet and celebrates work of our grassroots coalition partners Ibtada, Vacha, Sanjog and ANANDI.

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Influencers Bulletin – June
Vol II, Issue III

In this issue, we bring you updates from our grassroots coalition partners Breakthrough, CORO and ANANDI. The stories provides a glimpse into the involvement of our other implementing partners like AALI and Majlis in the current CJI sexual harassment issue.

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Influencers Bulletin – May
Vol II, Issue II

In this issue, we bring you updates from EdelGive’s At the Same Table (ATST), where one of our NGOs, IT for Change, led a discussion on leveraging technology to facilitate grassroots leadership for women empowerment. Join us as we celebrate Milaan’s selection to participate in the Women Deliver Campaign, and follow us to know how Nishtha is fighting for the rights of a victim of sexual violence.

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Influencers Bulletin - April
Vol II, Special Edition

This month, as we mark the beginning of the new volume of the Influencers Bulletin, we would like to bring you our special issue bearing opinions, stories of hope and achievements, fact checks and campaigns shared by our 15 inspirational, grassroots partners in 10 states.

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Influencers Bulletin – March
Vol I, Issue VIII

This issue that celebrates the month of the International Women’s Day, features updates from our grassroots coalition partners Area Networking and Development Initiatives, Shaheen Women's Resource and Welfare Association and Nishtha. We are also proud to announce that two of our NGO partner leaders were anointed with the Nari Shakti Puraskar by the President of India.

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Influencers Bulletin - February
Vol I, Issue VII

This issue brings you updates on a much-needed legal cognisance of an abusive “procedure” - the two finger- virginity test and shares stories of systemic change being engineered from our grassroots coalition partners CORO India and Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI). Some glimpses from the official launch of the Influencers await you too!

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Influencers Bulletin - January
Vol I, Issue VI

This issue at the dawn of a New Year features updates from our grassroots coalition partners Jan Sahas and Breakthrough who have launched nation-wide initiatives in the realm of women’s rights, and bring you highlights from recent studies by our partner IT for Change on gender-based cyber violence in Karnataka.

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Influencers Bulletin - December
Vol I, Issue V

This issue brings you stories from the grassroots about how platforms facilitated by our NGO partners Jan Sahas, Milaan, Mann Deshi and Sanjog are enabling women and girls to express themselves; as survivors of violence, budding young grassroots leaders and entrepreneurs.

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Influencers Bulletin - November
Vol I, Issue IV

This issue focuses on the criticality of media in invoking progressive thoughts and positive action in promoting gender justice and brings you updates from our grassroots coalition partners Breakthrough and Majlis. We also bring you stories of justice delivered and redefined trends from Jan Sahas and Kutch Mahila Vikas Sanghatan.

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Influencers Bulletin - October
Vol I, Issue III

This issue, in the milieu of the #MeToo illustrates the criticality of giving a voice to women in vulnerable situations and brings you stories of hope and triumph at the last-mile from our grassroots coalition partners Ibtada, Jan Sahas and Sanjog.

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Influencers Bulletin - September
Vol I, Issue II

In this issue we celebrate breakthrough developments in the judicial landscape that are milestones in India’s quest for gender justice and also bring you stories of hope and triumph at the last-mile, from our grassroots coalition partners, Jan Sahas and Kutch Mahila Vikas Sansthan.

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Influencers Bulletin – August
Vol I, Issue I

In our inaugural issue, we bring you stories of hope and triumph in women empowerment at the last-mile from our partners Jan Sahas, Sanjog, Milaan and Vacha.

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Akshara
Harnessing an Olympic dream

A celebrated 100 meter sprinter and a local role model inspiring young girls in her community and town – meet Akshara!

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Chitra
Engineering social change

Leading societal transformation and changing lives for women in and around her village

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Sabah
Shaping a brighter future

Providing wings to her mentees to dream big like herself

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