At a recent event, women achievers from varied fields came together to discuss how they can contribute to a more successful, innovative and transformational work set-up
A conference titled ‘She leads India’ was organised by SheThePeople.TV and supported by United Nations Women, India, with the objective of understanding strong women and acknowledging their powerful voices. Established women from varied fields came forward with the resolution to clear misunderstandings associated with gender and break free from the regressive social misconceptions.
“The idea was to support a conference that brings together women at the forefront across spheres, who have consistently broken barriers to be change makers. There is nothing more foundational to the economic and social viability of our cities and country than ensuring voice, choice, and agency of our women.” says Nishtha Satyam, Head, Strategic Partnerships, Policy Impact and Public Relations UN Women Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri lanka.
Speakers at the event included Shaili Chopra, Founder of SheThePeople.TV, filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava, whose latest film lipstick Under My Burkha was banned in India, comedian Radhika Vaz, activist Trupti Desai, Divya Suri, Executive Director of The lalit Suri Hospitality Group, and other dignitaries.
Shaili Chopra emphasised the essence of collective efforts and how they can lead to general good, “These showcase real life heroes and champions of women’s leadership at a time when we have increasing consciousness of gender biases and the need to celebrate women achievers.” Distributed into five sessions, the conference discussed pertinent topics such as the role of women in public policy, equal pay for equal work, change through sport and the power of humour to influence gender equality.
Among the women, there were a few male voices as well. For instance, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, spoke highly of female entrepreneurs who are a central part of the StartUp India campaign. He said, “Women can play an extremely important role in the Make in India and StartUp India programmes. In both programmes, women have been specifically targeted to avail the benefits from the incentives aimed to promote women entrepreneurs.
“Various Government institutions and SIDBI are taking significant initiatives that help them raise funds. To exploit these schemes, they should keep themselves aware of the recent policies. Moreover, women should come forward and take part in the growth of Indian economy to motivate other women too.”
Radhika Vaz, on the other hand, used her quintessential black humour to mock both patriarchal men as well as subservient women. She said that humour is an essential tool to undermine the stumbling blocks for women laid out by an unequal, backward society. She even shared her email address and encouraged comedy-aspirants to feel free to share their works and give her feedback. Her session also included a discussion on body shaming. Vaz stressed the need for women to negate the power of haters by denying the attention they seek desperately.
The conference, empowered by Colors and PwC as knowledge partner, ended as a catalyst for a productive dialogue and discussion on women achievers and the role they play in all fields, including the male dominated ones such as innovation and technology, to lead to more meaningful and transformational outcomes for women.