50 social sector women leaders identified for inaugural WomenLead India Fellowship
Dec 13, 2022
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 13 : As many as 50 women from the country's social sector have been identified for the inaugural WomenLead India Fellowship, a joint initiative by Reliance Foundation and Vital Voices Global Partnership.
The Fellowship aims to enhance India's development sector ecosystem through women's leadership.
According to an official statement, the Fellowship invests in change makers, social entrepreneurs and social sector leaders, with a support system to meaningfully grow their social initiatives and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
"The Fellows in the inaugural cohort have been selected for their work on the themes of Education, Rural Transformation, Sports for Development and Arts, Culture and Heritage. This dynamic and intergenerational cohort hails from various social sector organizations, working at the grassroots level across rural and semi-urban areas of the country," the statement said.
The Fellows include entrepreneurs working on a range of issues and geographies from waste management in southern coastal villages to affordable energy sources in northeast India.
The statement said that over the course of 10 months, the Fellowship will provide these women leaders a course curriculum, access to a network of global leaders and influencers, and advanced mentoring support that will collectively help enhance their knowledge and skills - all the requirements for achieving high community impact.
Speaking on the Fellowship award, Nita M Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation, said, "My congratulations to the 50 exemplary women who have been selected for the first WomenLead India Fellowship. It has been a joy to learn about their inspiring journeys and transformational vision. I hope this Fellowship will be a force multiplier that further strengthens and amplifies their outstanding work with communities across India. Reliance Foundation is privileged to partner with Vital Voices in this incredible initiative to support our WomenLead India Fellows and be a part of their story."
Alyse Nelson, Co-Founder, President and CEO, Vital Voices said that women are shining examples of what the WomenLead India Fellowship is all about.
"I commend these 50 women leaders for rising up to the challenges people face in their communities to steer the way forward. They are shining examples of what the WomenLead India Fellowship is all about and I couldn't be prouder that Vital Voices is a part of their journey. We are enthusiastic about making a long-term investment in this inaugural cohort of Fellows, whom we believe will use their power to empower millions of others," Nelson said.
The statement further said that WomenLead India Fellowship will adopt a participant-centric approach, providing common as well as theme-centric mentorship to the Fellows.
"Over the coming months, it will serve as a platform to connect across diverse thematic areas, where they can learn with and from each other, both from Indian and global experiences," it said.
The WomenLead India Fellowship aims to strengthen the development sector ecosystem of India through women's leadership by adopting a multilateral and interdisciplinary approach.
