Shadhika

Reading Time: 5 minutes TW: Violence, abuse, mentions of suicide. These are hard facts about the reality that women, girls, queer youth, and other marginalized groups in India contend with. But our lives are more than statistics and infographics. These lived experiences are dictated by many levels of violence, trauma, and indifference.  The #16DaysOfActivism campaign is an annual commemoration   

Reading Time: 2 minutes What does it take to engage men and boys in practicing more gender-affirming attitudes and create lasting change in their lives? How can allyship for men and boys be more proactive? What can meaningful gender justice look like for men and boys? To achieve true gender justice, systemic levers of change must be activated and   

Reading Time: < 1 minutes The Executive Director’s Desk series on our website has been covering our principles of growth over the course of this year. We have already covered two of the four principles. This video blog will cover the remaining two – Openness and Curiosity and Pride and Confidence.

Reading Time: 7 minutes “Invest in Girls’ Rights: Our Leadership, Our Well-being”, proclaims the tagline for this International Day of the Girl. Across the globe, the percentage of seats held by women in national parliaments in 2022 was at just 26.5%. The current global labor force participation rate for women is under 47% – 25 percentage points lower than   

Reading Time: 5 minutes There is a comfort and validation that comes from being in a group of like-minded individuals and organizations that hold feminist values and believe that trust-based philanthropy is a baseline of equitable grantmaking. The recently held Women’s Funding Network Feminist Funded Rising ‘23 conference in DC was just that- unapologetic and bold voices inspiring and   

Reading Time: 5 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads: Shadhika Scholar collection. Learn more. Shaista is a Shadhika Scholar from our Partner Site Milaan in Uttar Pradesh. She was interviewed by Communications Manager Urmila Reghunath. My name is Shaista. I am from Milaan Foundation and live in the Mau District of Uttar Pradesh. What has been your experience/journey   

Reading Time: 7 minutes As we prepare to commemorate the International Give to Women and Girls Day, Shadhika aims to garner support for the critical gender justice work by our newest partner, Centre for Women and Girls, in Manipur, India.  Read on to learn more about CWG’s founder Hechin and CWG’s response to the ongoing conflict in Manipur. Center   

Reading Time: 3 minutes Here is a quick read on some of the key insights on the leadership of Shadhika Scholars and the impact of our partners’ work across India in 2022. Scroll through for a brief overview of these metrics! Want to learn more? Head on over to our complete Annual Report 2022-2023 Join us in this movement   

Reading Time: 2 minutes Spanning 6 days and 2 cities over June-July 2023, this year Shadhika’s Leaders for Change Summits engaged over 270 participants and were hosted with much fervor and energy in Lucknow and Vadodara! Each year, Shadhika hosts our Scholars from across India to share best practices, brainstorm collective action, support each other to advance their cause,   

Reading Time: 7 minutes Hi, my name is Bina and I come from West Bengal’s Alipurduar district. My family consists of myself, my mother, and two brothers. One brother had to drop out of school because of an accident, and the younger one is in the 8th class. I’m the eldest of all of us. They are naughty but   

Reading Time: 4 minutes This post is part of the Executive Director’s blog series. In this series, our Executive Director will be sharing insights on Shadhika’s mission, our gender justice work, and the impact of our programs in India. Follow our Executive Director on Instagram and Twitter for more! Read more from The Executive Director’s Desk here. It doesn’t   

Reading Time: 3 minutes It has been a little over three years since the COVID-19-induced lockdowns hit India, and we continue to grapple with the profound impact it has had on us. While the proportion of out-of-school girls fell to a record 2% in 2022 (Annual Status of Education Report, 2022), women’s employment fell by nearly 40% post-Covid according   

Reading Time: 4 minutes Educating girls continues to be the single biggest investment to improve development indicators of climate change, hunger and homelessness, economic growth, social welfare, and health. And yet, there are still 130 million girls unable to access educational opportunities across the world. When a challenge is this large the solution can feel abstract and out of   

Reading Time: < 1 minutes “How do we ensure that global philanthropy is not causing more harm? As a white woman in the US, working for gender justice in India, the key was discovering how my own power and privilege were getting in the way of our path to decolonization.“ This essay written by Kendra Nicolai, Director of Operations at   

Reading Time: 4 minutes This post is part of the Executive Director’s blog series. In this series, our Executive Director will be sharing insights on Shadhika’s mission, our gender justice work, and the impact of our programs in India. Follow our Executive Director on Instagram and Twitter for more! Read more from The Executive Director’s Desk here. When I