SUPER: Kaku Nakhate, President and Country Head, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, India
Kaku Nakhate: We are very keen to bring this program to India because feminine in India come from age-old thinking where women stay at home.
SUPER: Archana Surana, Founder and Director, Arch Academy of Design
Archana Surana: I faced quite the challenge in terms of my family, making them understand that I would follow my passion.
SUPER: Smita Mankad, Managing Director. Artisans Micro Finance PVT. LTD.
Smita Mankad: At the low income level, all the girls don’t get to go to school or they don’t end up finishing school and we need more women coming into the work force.
SUPER: Dr. Rashmi Tiwari, Chief Operating Officer, CEO Clubs of India
Dr. Rashmi Tiwari: Women are around 35% of the labor force. Indian cannot become a superpower until they refuse the gender disparities.
SUPER: Sarika Gupta Bhattacharyya, Founder and Director, Altavis Consulting Services PVT. LTD.
Sarika Gupta Bhattacharyya: A woman who has financial independence has a voice, she has options, she has choices.
SUPER: Akanksha Hazari, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, M.PAANI
Akanksha Hazari: We are definitely seeing a rise in female entrepreneurs but we need to find ways to harness that collective force.
We could move forward a lot quicker –
SUPER: Alyse Nelson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vital Voices Global Partnership
Alyse Nelson: The Global Ambassadors program here in India is based on the realization that mentorship leads to leadership and so we brought together women who we believe are poised to have tremendous impact, to gather with mentors, top women leaders and executives from around the world.
Unnamed woman: I need female talent –
SUPER: Zoe Dean-Smith, Senior Director, Vital Voices Global Partnership
Zoe Dean-Smith: To raise awareness of the importance of mentorship, we’re opening it up to the broader community with speakers and panel discussions.
Kaku Nakhate: You have different industries there, business people, and NGO’s. So it also opens what different things one can do.
SUPER: Donna Orender, Chief Executive Officer, Orender Unlimited, Global Ambassador
Donna Orender: There this incredible instantaneous magic that gets ignited because its - oh my goodness, here’s someone who has the same experience, we will connect. And from that, great things happen.
SUPER: Julie Fasone Holder, Founder and Principle, JFH Insights, Global Ambassador
Julie Fasone Holder: You know, its an incredible group of mentees here in the Global Ambassador Program. Women that have so much persistence and determination.
Zoe Dean-Smith: We had site visits to a couple of the mentee’s organizations to show the ambassadors what life is like on the ground.
Unnamed woman sowing: We sit here, doing this all day. 300 buttons a day.
Other woman: It’s beautiful.
SUPER: Geraldine B. Laybourne, Founder and Former Chairman and CEO, Oxygen Media, Global Ambassador
Geraldine B. Laybourne: The range of things they are working on, from mobile applications for the poorest of the poor to microfinance for design businesses – it’s fantastic.
Akanksha Hazari: I’ve actually never had a female mentor, so that for me was very exciting.
Sarika Gupta Bhattacharyya: My mentor Donna, helped me think through my goals, clearly set priorities, and create milestones for my business. She was wonderful.
Donna Orender: We took a picture, and I said to Sarika, ‘you stand in front of me, I will be behind you and just know I will be behind you your entire life”.
SUPER: Sohini Chakraborty, Founder, Kolkata Sanved
Sohini Chakraborty: This internship, it’s the starting point to move forward.
Akanksha Hazari: We wrapped up with a mentoring walk. Women from across the city, one has a mentor, one as a mentee.
Sarika Gupta Bhattacharyya: It was like we graduated from being a mentee to a mentor. I think mentoring is the biggest change we can have in the lives of the women in India.
Dr. Rashmi Tiwari: It is said that if you teach a man, you teach a man. But if you educate a woman, you educate a family.
Alyse Nelson: Think about hundreds, thousands of women who have been empowered. There’s a light that goes on that says, “actually, I’m the solution”.
Dr. Rashmi Tiwari: It’s our responsibility to create more programs, reach out to those women, and create a better world.
Graphic: The Global Ambassadors Program
A Vital Voices & Bank of America Partnership
Globalambassadors.vitalvoices.org
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