It is very important to empower women and girls to secure their futures. An educated and independent woman is more likely to ensure her safety and seek help in the face of violence or exploitation. Therefore in the fight to eliminate violence against women, the aspect of educating and empowering women and girls plays a very significant role.
CSR initiative of Tata Starbucks for Empowering Girls and Women
In order to address this aspect of gender equity, Tata Starbucks has announced its CSR initiative to support girls and young women in India through its Tata Starbucks Empowering Girls and Young Women program. The initiative seeks to provide education, skills development, and economic empowerment to women and girls in India. It will provide girls and young women with the education, financial assistance, and community support they need to develop their skills and find careers.
To execute the program effectively the organization will collaborate with non-profit organizations: Educate Girls, to improve girls’ education in rural and underprivileged areas, and VIDYA India, to provide volunteering and educational support to girls and young women who have relocated to urban cities from villages.
Roadmap of the Programme
In the first year of the program, the company is looking to support 2,000 girls and young women across India by creating education, skills development, and mentoring opportunities that will empower participants to create a better future for themselves and their communities.
For this, every Starbucks store across India will sponsor and support the education of a girl in primary school by covering the cost of enrolment, while improving learning outcomes and school retention rates. In addition, the company will also donate a percentage of all of its transactions in the new all-women stores in India in order to help mobilize communities around the importance of girls’ education through the partnership with Educate Girls. The program aims to increase educational enrolment and retention within rural communities while improving literacy and numeracy skills.
Tata Starbucks partners can also volunteer to support girls aged 4 to 18-years old who have relocated to urban cities from villages. Through the VIDYA India collaboration, partners can help to conduct training for life skills, numeracy, and literacy, and volunteer as teachers’ aides to make online classes more effective and engaging. Partners are also invited to participate in parental education awareness programs, designed to advance understanding and engagement around the importance of their children’s education.
Leaders’ Stand on the Initiative
“We are delighted to announce this new initiative that provides girls and young women in India with education and tools to build a better life for themselves and for their communities,” said Navin Gurnaney, CEO, Tata Starbucks Private Limited. “Throughout India, gender disparity remains a significant barrier to education – more than 4 million girls are out of school and we are still 15% away from closing the literacy gender gap between men and women. As a leading employer in India, we have a responsibility to invest in initiatives that advance education and skills development among girls and young women. We also continue to encourage diversity and gender equality in this dynamic region. It drives sustainable growth, elevates innovation through diverse thinking and deepens understanding of communities,” he added.
“Educate Girls is glad to collaborate with TATA Starbucks. It is the first time we are collaborating in this unique model with every Starbucks store supporting a girl’s education. Starbucks’ commitment to creating inclusion, diversity, and equity, and our vision to empower out-of-school girls from India’s most remote and rural geographies to get back to education, is well-aligned. Together we hope to strongly advocate for gender equality, equal right to education and enable our girls to become contributing members of our society,” said Safeena Husain, Founder and Executive Director of Educate Girls.
“VIDYA’s partnership with Starbucks is a momentous step towards scaling up our reach and impact, and moving closer to our vision of an India where every child receives a high-quality holistic education, every youth gets an opportunity to succeed and every woman gains economic independence and social equality. We are excited and deeply honoured to enter into a partnership with Starbucks,” said Rashmi Misra, founder-chairperson of VIDYA.
