Shadhika
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), womenâs 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
Reading Time: 12 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads series. Learn more. Nasreen is a Youth Program Coordinator with our Partner site in Karnataka, Sakhi Trust. Nasreen was interviewed by Communications Officer Vanita Ganesh. Sakhi Trust is a women-led, grassroots organization providing educational, vocational, health, social and economic support to adolescent girls in order to save them
Reading Time: 6 minutes âIâd never seen women using a laptop in my family, so didnât know if even girls can use a laptop. So that âfearâ was instilled in me and my mom that and the fear only kept increasing among the other women of the family tooâŠâ When access to technology and digital spaces is dictated by
Reading Time: 4 minutes Welcome to the first post of our 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. We
Reading Time: 6 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads series. Learn more. Meet the Shadhika Staff who work tirelessly to make everything we do possible and read what the year was like, behind the scenes! Personally and professionally, I think that this past year was a big year of growth for me, so âWe rise,
Reading Time: 21 minutes This edition of the When She Leads will celebrate girl leadership at the forefront of climate action in India. The interview is a conversation between Climate Change Initiative Fellow Nitika, the Initiative’s consultant Sayantoni Dutta, and Vanita Ganesh, Shadhika’s Digital Media Coordinator. Nitika is a Shadhika Scholar with a background in journalism and law. She
Reading Time: 5 minutes âI did not know that I could do something so big. I decided to try something in my village, and it turned out to be a very big program.â Beauti shares her experience with the group of Shadhika Climate Fellows about the initiative in her village to gain access to clean drinking water. âYears ago,
Reading Time: 6 minutes Trigger warnings: Instances of types of violence, mentions of sexual abuse and rape. In my short time as a communications professional, working on a program for 16 Days of Activism is often a bittersweet experience. It is a reminder of how far weâve come and, simultaneously, of how far we have left to go. In 2021,
Reading Time: 9 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads series. Learn more. UNICEFâs call to action for this yearâs International Day of the Girl includes âgreater attention, investment and action on letting girls lead by putting girls in the forefront of change efforts, hearing their voices, responding to their asks, and welcoming them in decision-making spaces,â among others.
Reading Time: 9 minutes In May 2022 Poonam, a Shadhika Scholar at Milaan Foundation, will graduate from college. Poonam lives in a small city in Madhya Pradesh and commutes 4 hours each day to and from college. Poonam and her mother talk about the significance of her graduation, and all it took to get her to this point. Youâre
Reading Time: 6 minutes In May 2022, Lekha is graduating from high school. Her family lives in Colorado, but she goes to boarding school on the East Coast. Lekha and her mother Marsha reflect on what this graduation season means for their mother-daughter relationship. You are graduating at the end of this school year. What are your reflections looking
Reading Time: 11 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads Series. Learn more here. Can you introduce yourself to the Shadhika supporters? Lekha: My name is Lekha Masoudi and Iâm a senior at Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in New Hampshire. Iâve lived in Denver, Colorado since I was a baby. I started the Shadhika Club along