Women's Empowerment

I was shadowing a coaching client in her leadership meeting when I watched this brilliant woman apologize six times in 30 minutes. 1. “Sorry, this might be off-topic, but..." 2. “I'm could be wrong, but what if we..." 3. “Sorry again, I know we're running short on time..." 4. “I don't want to step on anyone's toes, but..." 5. “This is just my opinion, but..." 6. “Sorry if I'm being too pushy..." Her ideas? They were game-changing. Every single one. Here's what I've learned after decades of coaching women leaders: Women are masterful at reading the room and keeping everyone comfortable. It's a superpower. But when we consistently prioritize others' comfort over our own voice, we rob ourselves, and our teams, of our full contribution. The alternative isn't to become aggressive or dismissive. It's to practice “gracious assertion": • Replace "Sorry to interrupt" with "I'd like to add to that" • Replace "This might be stupid, but..." with "Here's another perspective" • Replace "I hope this makes sense" with "Let me know what questions you have" • Replace "I don't want to step on toes" with "I have a different approach" • Replace "This is just my opinion" with "Based on my experience" • Replace "Sorry if I'm being pushy" with "I feel strongly about this because" But how do you know if you're hitting the right note? Ask yourself these three questions: • Am I stating my needs clearly while respecting others' perspectives? (Assertive) • Am I dismissing others' input or bulldozing through objections? (Aggressive) • Am I hinting at what I want instead of directly asking for it? (Passive-aggressive) You can be considerate AND confident. You can make space for others AND take up space yourself. Your comfort matters too. Your voice matters too. Your ideas matter too. And most importantly, YOU matter. @she.shines.inc #Womenleaders #Confidence #selfadvocacy

From Statistics to Transformation: The Power of a Toilet Mumbai, India’s financial capital, has 6,800 city toilets — yet only 2,973 are functional. That’s 1 seat for 752 men… and an even starker 1 seat for 1,820 women (Praja Foundation, 2024). Numbers like these remind us how invisible basic dignity can be in our cities. For most of us, a toilet is something we take for granted. But for those without, the absence of this basic facility can mean lost hours each day, poor health, anxiety, and compromised safety. And yet, a toilet can be nothing short of transformational. It can restore time, health, confidence, and above all, self-respect. During my visit as a member of Mumbai First, I saw firsthand how Hindustan Unilever’s Suvidha Centres are rewriting this story. With just ₹150 ($1.70) per month, a family of 5 gets access to clean toilets, safe bathing spaces, laundromats, and filtered drinking water. • Women feel secure with 24x7 CCTV surveillance and separate facilities equipped with sanitary dispensers. • No more skipping meals to avoid unsafe night visits. • Affordable laundry (₹70 for 7kg) and bathing (₹10) save time and improve hygiene. • Over 6,000 members per centre benefit, with digital access systems ensuring inclusivity and order. The result? Communities uplifted. Women empowered. Invisible workers of our cities granted dignity. This is more than sanitation—it’s a social and economic paradigm shift. Kudos to Hindustan Unilever for showing us how business can transform lives, one Suvidha toilet at a time. Sometimes, hope doesn’t come in big speeches or grand plans. Sometimes, it comes in the form of a clean, safe toilet—changing lives quietly, yet profoundly. ❤️

Recommended reading! She RISES: a framework for caring cities Cities often mirror the inequalities embedded in society. She RISES: A Framework for Caring Cities, developed by surabhi tandon mehrotra, Kalpana Viswanath, Ankita Kapoor and Rwitee Mandal from Safetipin, brings this imbalance into sharp focus. It exposes how urban design and governance frequently overlook the gendered dimensions of city life, especially the invisible role of care work in sustaining urban systems. The framework is built around four core principles: Responsive, Inclusive, Safe and Equitable Spaces. Together they form an integrated approach to gender transformation through four streams of action. The first stream focuses on public spaces and infrastructure. Well-lit streets, obstacle-free pavements, safe public toilets and mixed-use neighbourhoods are presented as essential design features that enable women’s participation in urban life. The second stream addresses services and amenities, highlighting the need for childcare facilities, housing for single women, and access to affordable health care. Recognising and redistributing care work across communities, markets and the state is seen as a cornerstone of an equitable city. The third stream targets mobility and public transport. Women’s complex travel patterns, shaped by care duties and multiple destinations, require safe, affordable and well-connected systems. Gender-disaggregated data and inclusive recruitment policies in the transport sector are proposed as practical tools for change. The fourth stream concerns responses to gender-based violence, emphasising the implementation of existing laws, the establishment of crisis hubs, and public campaigns that reshape social attitudes. The She RISES framework is both analytical and operational. It is intended for planners, policy makers and urban managers who aim to embed gender sensitivity into every layer of urban governance. The report also serves as a reminder that the care economy is not peripheral but foundational to the functioning of cities. Safetipin, the social enterprise behind this work, has been collecting and analysing safety data in more than forty-five cities across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Their evidence confirms that cities designed with care in mind not only improve safety for women but also strengthen social cohesion and economic resilience for all. #GenderEquality #UrbanDevelopment #InclusiveCities #UrbanPlanning #PublicSpace #CaringCities

Gold Loans Are Not Just About Collateral. They Are About Courage. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released its draft guidelines on Lending Against Gold Collateral, 2025. I feel it is important to share what I’ve witnessed firsthand through my work with women in rural India - where gold loans are not just financial tools, but lifelines. At Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank Limited run by and for rural women, gold loans are more than a product. They are part of our story - and the stories of thousands of women who rely on them to meet urgent needs, invest in their children’s education, or keep their small businesses afloat. In patriarchal households, gold is often the only asset a woman truly owns and controls. During COVID-19, our emergency gold loans allowed women to meet critical needs when other credit dried up. It was fast, dignified, and humane. Rural women don’t buy gold for ornamentation. They acquire it slowly - through informal savings and credit. A bangle or earring becomes an emergency fund. A quiet form of financial independence. A bridge to the formal economy. In the 2012 drought, I met Kerabai Sargar, a cattle farmer who mortgaged her gold to buy water and fodder to save her animals. Her gold gave her the power to stay and fight for her land. That loan wasn’t just a transaction - it was resilience. In the early days of Mann Deshi, I met Sona Bai, who came to our bank in tears, asking for ₹50 to treat her sick child. She offered an earring as collateral. Our branch manager gave her the money without taking the earring. Two weeks later, she returned and repaid the amount. The RBI’s draft proposes stricter documentation, end-use monitoring, and proof of ownership. While reasonable in principle, in practice these measures may exclude the very women they aim to protect. How do you prove ownership of gold inherited from a grandmother? Or show receipts for wedding gifts received decades ago? How do you tell a mother that her child’s fever must wait for paperwork? I urge regulators to consider the lived realities of rural borrowers: Allow self-declarations for small-ticket gold loans. Recognize informal and inherited gold as legitimate collateral. Ensure emergency lending remains fast and dignified. Once, at an RBI meeting where Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was present, I was asked, “Why do women still mortgage gold for loans?” Dr. Kalam shared how his aunt had mortgaged her bangles to fund his college education. As we build more robust financial systems, let’s ensure they are not only safe - but also sensitive. Because gold loans are sometimes the only thing standing between a woman and a moneylender. Between dignity and debt. Hope and hunger. Mann Deshi Foundation Rekha Kulkarni Shinjini Kumar vandana bhansali Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Yale World Fellows Ashoka #FinancialInclusion #RuralWomen #GoldLoans #WomenAndFinance #DignityInFinance #InclusiveBanking

When were you last really hungry? 1 in 4 people constantly is. That’s over 2 billion. Every day. Not late lunch hungry. The kind that stunts, shrinks, ends. 820 million underfed. 2 billion lacking vital nutrients. These women feed the future, Not with spoons, with science. 📌 Dr. Agnes Kalibata Redesigned food systems for smallholder resilience. Helped millions access tools, tech, and markets. Bridges climate policy and agricultural reform. Turns global summits into farm-level shifts. 📌 Dr. Esther Ngumbi Builds climate-smart crops from soil to stalk. Links microbes, tradition, and food security. Centers farmers in every solution. Science that grows from the ground up. 📌 Dr. Dilfuza Egamberdieva Heals soil where hunger hits hardest. Uses microbes to revive arid farmland. Restores productivity without synthetic overload. Binds ecology, food, and local power. 📌 Dr. Agnes Atim Apea Transforms rice farming into women-led systems. Lifts communities through shared land and profits. Redesigns agriculture with social justice roots. Proof that food equity scales. 📌 Dr. Sigrid Heuer Engineered zinc-rich rice to fight “hidden hunger.” Improves nutrition across Asia through seeds. Her work feeds millions micronutrient by micronutrient. A new harvest, with health built in. 📌 Dr. Rose Goslinga Builds crop insurance for the world’s smallest farms. Reduces risk so farmers can grow forward. Links tech and trust where banks never reached. Turns safety nets into growth plans. 📌 Dr. Fanta Camara Fuses AI with indigenous farming wisdom. Models food systems that adapt to climate. Designs agroecology for the future of Africa. Grounds innovation in ancestral roots. 📌 Dr. Njeri Gitonga Reengineers livestock systems for safety and equity. Builds traceable, disease-free meat supply chains. Mentors rural girls into tech-driven ag careers. Where food meets dignity, she leads. 📌 Dr. Mariam Mayet Defends seed sovereignty and farmer-led science. Champions agroecology in courtrooms and fields. Fights corporate capture of food systems. Biodiversity is her resistance tool. 📌 Dr. Susan Kaaria Elevates women scientists in African agriculture. Builds leadership pipelines from lab to land. Pushes for policy that centers rural women. Her strategy: gender is infrastructure. 📌 Dr. Tarini Gupta Designs agri-nutrition systems for public health. Targets malnutrition through food policy innovation. Her science fuels nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Feeds the body, and the system. 📌 Dr. Ana Luiza Domingos Maps how the brain shapes what we eat. Connects hunger, hormones, and food behavior. Her research reframes nutrition at its roots. The science of appetite, reimagined. 8+ billion mouths to feed, and rising. Hunger grows. So does science. These women build what keeps us fed, from soil to system. What would you feed the future?

1/10 women leave work during menopause because of their symptoms. This costs the UK economy an estimated £1.5 billion every year… Not to mention the personal toll on women’s careers, confidence, and financial security. The data is stark: → £191m is lost annually due to time off work. → £22m lost due to presenteeism (showing up but unable to perform at full capacity). The numbers prove what too many of us already know: untreated and unsupported menopause isn’t just a women’s health issue. It’s an economic issue. It’s a business issue. We’re building The Better Menopause on this very premise - that when women are properly supported with evidence-based solutions, they thrive. And when women thrive, so do workplaces and economies. We cannot afford to keep ignoring the link between menopause, productivity, and economic growth. This is about more than flexible working policies. It’s about creating a culture where midlife women are supported, not sidelined. Because investing in women’s health is investing in growth.

Yesterday was International Day of Rural Women , a day that rarely trends, yet these women are the central actors of Africa’s economy. The theme this year, “Rural Women Rising – Shaping Resilient Futures with Beijing+30,” is a reminder of how much resilience lives in Africa’s rural heartlands. While my reflection today is not about the aspirations of Beijing+30 per se, it’s about the women who till the soil, trade in open markets, process food by hand, and keep entire communities running often without ever being recognized as “entrepreneurs.” Across the continent, rural women contribute up to 60–80% of food production, yet most remain locked in subsistence cycles : producing, feeding, and surviving, but rarely scaling. The barriers are not just financial; they’re systemic. Limited access to credit, gendered land rights, exclusion from digital finance, and low participation in value chains keep many of their enterprises from moving beyond survival. But the story is not all grim. Over the years, I have witnessed incredible transformations from women’s cooperatives in Nigeria that pooled savings to start cassava processing centers, to smallholder farmers in Mozambique who are now supplying formal markets after gaining access to tailored financing to a young female chili farmer in Nyanza that has gone beyond owning and cultivating 1 plot of land to half hectare. These stories matter because they demonstrate that with the right combination of finance, capacity, and policy reform, women don’t just lift their households, they lift entire economies. If we want “resilient futures,” then rural women’s enterprises must move from subsistence to significance. It is time we stopped treating their contribution as charity and started recognizing it as the powerful economic engine it is. So, as we celebrate Rural Women’s Day, let’s do more than applaud resilience , let’s fund it, formalize it, and scale it. Because the future we are building in Africa is only as strong as the rural women holding it up. #InternationalDayOfRuralWomen #WomenInAgribusiness #FinancialInclusion #GenderFinance #AfricaRising #BeijingPlus30

New BMJ Global Health Commentary: Governing Health Systems With a Gender Lens I’m pleased to share a new BMJ Global Health commentary, written with my colleagues Aya Thabet and Anna Cocozza, on a topic that urgently needs attention: How health system governance can close—or widen—the women’s health gap. Women around the world experience, on average, nine additional years of poor health compared with men. This disparity is not just a clinical issue. It is a governance issue. For decades, health systems have relied on a narrow definition of women’s health, focusing predominantly on maternal and reproductive care. This has left significant gaps in areas such as chronic disease, mental health, menopause, autoimmune conditions, gender-based violence, and more. Our article argues that governance itself must change if we want health systems to deliver for women. Using the WHO’s Six Governance Behaviours framework, we examine how governments, regulators, and purchasers can integrate a gender lens into the rules, incentives, and decision-making processes that shape health systems. Here are some of the key insights: 1. Deliver strategy with measurable commitments Clear definitions, dedicated budgets, and accountability mechanisms across both the public and private sectors must back equity goals. 2. Build understanding through sex-disaggregated data If systems don’t collect it, they can’t govern it. Mandatory sex-disaggregated data and transparency are essential to closing gaps. 3. Enable stakeholders by aligning incentives Financing arrangements—particularly strategic purchasing—can reward equitable, women-centred care rather than perpetuating neglect. 4. Align structures through gender-responsive regulation Licensing, training, essential medicines lists, and facility standards must explicitly reflect women’s health needs across the life course. 5. Foster relations with meaningful partnerships Women’s organisations, professional associations, and patient groups are indispensable partners in designing governance arrangements that work. 6. Nurture trust with strong accountability systems Women must have access to safe, responsive grievance and redress mechanisms—and regulators must consistently enforce protections. Why this matters Health systems are not gender-neutral. Without intentional design, the rules and incentives that govern them will continue to reproduce inequalities. By applying a gender lens to governance, we can reposition women’s health as a core system priority, not a side issue—and build accountability for equitable, respectful, high-quality care. Governing Health Systems With a Gender Lens BMJ Global Health – Clarke, Thabet & Cocozza https://lnkd.in/dwXNka4a Join the conversation #WomensHealth #GenderEquity #HealthSystems #GlobalHealth #HealthGovernance #HealthPolicy #UniversalHealthCoverage #UHC #DigitalHealth #HealthReform #HealthEquity #Accountability #Regulation #StrategicPurchasing #BMJGlobalHealth

Being the “only one in the room” isn’t a limitation—it’s an opportunity to lead. When I became one of only a couple of women in an Air Force fighter squadron, I felt the weight of extra scrutiny. Every mistake I made seemed magnified. My inner critic whispered, “Do you even belong here?” "How will what you do impact the reputation of all female pilots?" For a long time, I tried to blend in. But trying to be the same as everyone else didn’t serve me—or the team. Everything changed when I started owning my strengths, building allies, and advocating for myself. Here’s what I learned: 1️⃣ Own your strengths: You don’t need to fit into anyone’s mold. Your unique perspective is your advantage. 2️⃣ Build allies: Success is stronger when it’s shared. Find the people who have your back and lean on them. 3️⃣ Advocate for yourself: Speak up, claim your space, and take the lead without waiting for permission. Diversity isn’t achieved by just being in the room—it’s about making your voice heard once you’re there. If you’ve ever felt like the odd one out, remember this: Your presence brings value. Your perspective matters. The best way to inspire change is to show up fully as yourself. Have you ever felt like the 'only one in the room'? How did you navigate it, and what advice would you give to someone facing the same challenge today❓ Drop it in the comments. Be brave and share your story! ------------------------ Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm a former fighter pilot turned speaker, author, and coach. If you found this helpful, consider reposting ♻️ and follow me for more content like this. #Leadership #DiversityInclusion #WomenInLeadership #BreakingBarriers #AirForcePride #OwnYourStrengths #LeadWithConfidence #BeTheChange

🧾 The cost of being seen isn’t the same for everyone. For women, it’s a "Surchage" no one talks about. 👩 Take Ling, a regional sales director. When she speaks up in strategy meetings, she’s told to “be mindful of her tone.” When she stays quiet, she’s labeled “not strategic enough.” It’s not a leadership gap. It’s a cost-benefit calculation, rigged against her. 👩 Meet Rina, a product lead. She’s built three go-to-market launches. Each one a success. But when promotion time comes, her boss says: “You’re doing great. Let’s not disrupt the team dynamic.” Her competence became the excuse to keep her contained. 👩 And then there’s Julia, a COO candidate. She’s been asked to mentor the next generation of women leaders. But no one’s sponsoring her to be the next CEO. 👉 Because championing others is celebrated. Championing yourself gets complicated. But the problem is, the system charges women extra for the power move: • Speak up? Pay the “too aggressive” tax. • Stay humble? Pay the “forgettable” fee. • Stay silent? Pay with your career.    ⚙️ So how do you stop overpaying for power? You fix it by changing the cost structure. Here are 4 strategic power moves to change the terms: 1️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲. Most women try to optimize for comfort: "How can I be visible without making anyone uncomfortable?" Wrong question. Ask: "What does this room need to believe about me to attach power to my name?" Then behave in a way that enforces that belief, consistently! 2️⃣ 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁. Workhorses get thanked. Strategists get promoted. Shift the conversation from "how hard you worked" to "what changed because of you." Make people dependent on your thinking, not your labor. 3️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁, 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺. When women lead, people often don’t know how to process it. So they fill in the blanks, with assumptions. Don’t let the room guess. Tell them why you’re doing what you’re doing. Say 👉 "I’m recommending this because it moves us closer to the long-term goal." 👉 "I’m raising this because keeping quiet will cost us more later." 4️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺’𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. Decisions about you happen in rooms you’re not in. Those rooms won’t remember your to-do list, they’ll remember the shortcut version of you. Make sure the phrase people repeat about you is a power narrative, not a service narrative. Keen to own your narrative? 📅 Join our online workshop on July 24th 7:30 to 9pm SGT 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 👉 https://lnkd.in/gVT2Y59Q 👈 For women who are done paying extra just to be in the room. 👊 Because if you keep paying the power tax quietly, you’ll be subsidizing other people’s promotions forever.