Empowering Women Entrepreneurs In India

Gender equality is still a dream for future in our country. Many powerful women have managed to rise in the patriarchal society we live in, however it is still long way to go before we manage to bring equality for women in every aspect personally and professionally.

Working towards the cause, Procter & Gamble (P&G) India along with its partner WEConnect International recently concluded the Women Business Empowerment Program in India. 20 women entrepreneurs, who were selected via an application process graduated from the four-week program aimed at developing capability of women entrepreneurs. As part of the program, P&G conducted training and workshops with real-time case studies covering various aspects of building a sustainable business including professional skills like consumer engagement, digital marketing, legal and tax system, effective communication etc. Taking this a step further, the holistic program also provided women entrepreneurs access to business opportunities with P&G and its partners. Through the holistic Women Business Empowerment program, 25% of participants secured business opportunities with P&G and its partners.

The training sessions and workshops were mentored by senior leaders from P&G and prominent women leaders and entrepreneurs from across industries including Richa Arora, COO, Consumer Business, TATA Chemicals; Simran Hoon, Executive Vice President – Viacom18; Poorvi Chothani, Founding and Managing Partner, LawQuest; Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR); Richa Pai, FMCG Merchandising head, Aditya Birla Retail Limited; Aarti Bindra, Managing Director, ACPL Systems Pvt Ltd.; Kalpana Anantraman, CEO, Avion Systems and Gauri Sawant, transgender activist and Managing Trustee, Sai Savli Foundation and Founder ‘Aaji Cha Ghar’.

P&G India has committed itself to sourcing US$30 million from women-owned businesses across the country over the next three years. This initiative to support women entrepreneurs is built on the organisation’s global commitment to promote greater gender equality in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“We are delighted to conclude the first edition of the Women Business Empowerment program (WBEP). Through this initiative, we conceived a holistic capability platform which will help women entrepreneurs build their businesses sustainably. This initiative is in line with our global commitment to empower women-owned businesses which is an important aspect of our citizenship efforts. We are committed to source US$30 million from women-owned businesses across India over the next three years. Through this commitment, we believe, we will not only be able to stimulate economic growth but also bring about a social change via empowering women entrepreneurs,” said Madhusudan Gopalan, CEO, P&G India Sub Continent.

Gender Equality is a priority focus area of P&G’s Citizenship efforts. The organisation has been steadily working to improve gender equality by leveraging its unique strengths in partnership and collaboration with industry stakeholders. It has also announced a series of measures designed to support a push towards gender equality across the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa region and the recent initiative in India is another strong statement in that direction.

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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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