Presenting August Edition of The EquiLead Lab: Workplace Safety, Job Fair, and More!

"I have not been a leader and I have not done leadership. I have done leading. What do I mean by that? I mean that leading is a verb, its an action and its something we do." - Julia Middleton, Director, Women Emerging. 

Lead With Equity 2024

It has been a month since our first annual conference got over and we continue to be humbled by the momentum of conversations that continues beyond the conference. Our labour of love has been an ecosystem enabler of sorts leading to many conversations around key issues regarding women’s leadership and the pathways to reach it.

We reached out to panelists and participants for their reflections on women's leadership and are excited to share Samar Verma's (Independent Knowledge Partner) insights on ‘What Happens When Women Lead?’ captured during our Lead With Equity: EquiLead Annual Conference 2024. Here’s his perspective on the positive change women bring to the table.

Priyanka Gupta, Co-founder and Director, Rajalka Consulting, one of the speakers at the event has penned this blog on her favourite moments from Lead With Equity 2024.

Read here

Announcement! Online Job Fair for Mid-Career Women Professionals in Social Impact

EquiLead is proud to present an exclusive Job Fair for Mid-Career Women Professionals in Social Impact, tailored for those with 5-10 years of experience in the sector. This invite-only event is designed to foster meaningful connections in a conducive networking environment that a limited group size will enable.

Benefits of Participation:

• Strategic Networking: Participate in structured breakout sessions with leading social impact organizations actively seeking talent. 
• Exclusive Access: Engage in closed-door sessions with selected organizations for a more personalized experience.
• Share Your Journey: Present your career story and insights to both organizations and peers

RSVP Now: Given the exclusive nature and limited participant slots, we encourage you to secure your spot as soon as possible. 

Register Here

EquiLead’s Events Diary

August was a busy month for the team at EquiLead.

• Our co-leads Anchal and Aiswarya attended a national dissemination event Advancing Women in Health Leadership: Barriers and Breakthroughs organised by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) - Asia. In this event, ICRW - Asia presented key findings and explored strategies to empower women to achieve equitable career progression and leadership roles in the health workforce in India. You can watch the recording here.
• On August 5, the CII Centre for Women Leadership in collaboration with the US State Department organised an interaction with Ms. Mercedes Soria, Executive Vice President of Software Engineering and the Chief Intelligence Officer at Knightscope Inc. Anchal and Aiswarya were invited for this conversation that brought together industry leaders from across sectors to uncover the current development in the field of AI and Machine learning while exploring the opportunities for inclusion of women through the evolution of this sector.
• Our Gender Expert Meghana Rao was invited as an evaluator for final assignment for E4 Social Impact Leadership Program by VOICE 4 Girls sponsored by Australian Aid. VOICE 4 Girls’ leadership program is primarily designed for young people seeking for opportunities and pathways to continue their journey in social impact. As a part of their final assignment and a mandatory project to graduate from the program, the participants have to create a Personal Action Plan for themselves, mapping their future journeys and the project they plan to work on.
• Anchal and Aiswarya were invited to attend Journey Towards Viksit Bharat: A Post Union Budget 2024-25 Conference at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on July 30. The conference captured key reform measures for the next few years, including those outlined in the Union Budget 2024, and collectively charted a path for Viksit Bharat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address.

EquiLead Landscaping Study

EquiLead is conducting a landscaping study on how organisations in the development sector actions gender integration and diversity at their workplace culture policies. This research aims to document key learnings, recommendations and case studies of gender intentionality justice and acceleration of women's leadership in the workplace from 100 organisations. The findings from this study will be instrumental in designing workshops, programmes and policies. 

If your organisation is doing impactful work to institutionalise gender diversity at your workplace, to make your workforce and leadership structures more equitable and inclusive, we want to hear from you.

Click here to participate in the study

Job Opportunities

• Head - Learner's success (20 years)
• Associate Director/Director - Government Alliances, Partnerships (15 years)
• Chief Operating Officer (10 years) 
• Program Director - Communication (10 years)
• Regional Communications Lead, South Asia (10 years)
• National Gender Fellowships 2024

Click here for more job opportunities

Women and the Workplace

The horrific incidents reported last month have refocused attention on women's safety and the critical need for institutional infrastructure to ensure their well-being. Despite laws like the POSH Act, women in sectors from corporate to education and entertainment still face denial of their basic right to safety.

We spoke to Prena G Chatterjee, POSH Consultant and Advisor, Priya Vardarajan, Founder and Chief Imagination Officer, Durga and Pallavi Sobti-Rajpal, Joint CEO, Utthan on what safety at the workplace entails and the various measures organisations can take to make it a priority going beyond the POSH Act.

Trigger Warning: This article talks about sexual assault and harassment at the workplace which may be distressing to some readers.

Read here

Nearly five years after its submission, the Hema Committee Report on the Malayalam film industry's workplace conditions was finally released, exposing widespread power abuse, sexual harassment, and manipulation.

Watch here

Women's workforce participation in India Inc stands at 19%, according to The Udaiti Foundation's analysis of 2,100 NSE-listed companies. 

Read More

Your Readings for August

How nonprofits look at systems thinking

Arthan collaborated with AVPN on a study analyzing drivers and constraints for systems change by small and medium NGOs. At the AVPN conference in Mumbai, December 2023, Arthan led a roundtable with diverse stakeholders— NGOs, funders, enablers, and more.

Read the insights here

The Overlooked Impact of Gendered Job Descriptions on Women in Leadership

Explore the blog to uncover the hidden barriers women face in leadership and how gendered wording in job descriptions may impact their career advancement.

Read here

If you're looking to feature your job posting on our EquiLead platform, please fill out the form here. 

As a jobs aggregator, we are dedicated to bridging the human capital gap in the social impact sector by connecting organizations like yours with a diverse pool of talented women professionals.

Small Steps in Right Direction

We have seen some policy changes towards inclusivity that are encouraging signs of progress towards a more supportive and inclusive environment for all. Read here

We are proud to be a network partner for Impact Investors Council (IIC)'s Prabhav 2024. Join them for the session on 'Empowering Women through Financial Inclusion,' a key part of the Equity Impact Investing track.

Register Here