Shadhika

Reading Time: 3 minutes “While my internet connection was not great and the screen was blurry and I couldn’t see the lyrics clearly, hearing all of us singing together, it felt like a family. We don’t know one another and some of us have never met, but here, through this Summit, we have formed a unique relationship with each   

Reading Time: 4 minutes Over the last decades, the World Bank and others have published irrefutable data that investing in women and girls has a multiplying effect on the wellbeing of a society: GDP rises; emotional and physical health indicators go up; and gender-based violence and discrimination incidents diminish. Directionally, these international development bodies are moving towards a new   

Reading Time: 3 minutes It is not possible to be in nature without reflecting on one’s place, role, and purpose. So, in the mountains of the Colorado Front Range and the misty hills of Lonavala in India, the entire team of Shadhika spent three days in retreat, surrounded by natural beauty and wildlife to crystallize our role — as   

Reading Time: 6 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads: Donor Highlights collection. Learn more. Kavita Jain is a member of Shadhika’s Scholarship Donor Circle. She was interviewed by Program Officer, Kendra Nicolai. If you would like to become a scholarship donor, you can do so here. Hi Kavita. Can you introduce yourself and tell us how you   

Reading Time: 6 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads: Donor Highlights collection. Learn more. Kavita Biyani is a member of Shadhika’s monthly FundHer Donor Circle. She was interviewed by Development Coordinator Jenna Sweig. If you would like to become a monthly FundHer Donor, you can do so here. Hi Kavita. Can you introduce yourself and tell us   

Reading Time: 3 minutes Climate justice and action to reverse the climate crisis is a burning global topic highly advocated by youth around the world. In response to this urgent agenda, Shadhika has received an opportunity to address “Climate Change as a Girls Rights Issue” through a Posner Center Collaboration Grant.  Educating girls has been regarded as one of   

Reading Time: 4 minutes Shadhika Friends, As one of Shadhika’s staff recently said, “This past year has been like white-water rafting in a fog.”  I’m sure many of you felt that same sense of not knowing what was ahead yet knowing you had to move forward. In any organization, just as in white-water rafting, there must always be someone   

Reading Time: 3 minutes The pandemic crisis unfolding in India is leaving devastation in its path that will likely reverberate through all aspects of Indian life for years to come. Over the last week, the country hit a world record of new infections each day, the hospitals are overwhelmed, and India is now recording one COVID-related death every 5   

Reading Time: 2 minutes This is a post from our COVID-19 Response page. Stay up-to-date on what is happening in India along with us there. Over the weekend, India continued to shatter daily COVID-19 cases, recording more than one third of all new global cases each day. What is driving this immense surge almost one year after the first? Several factors   

Reading Time: 8 minutes Shadhika implemented the Community Leadership Project component of the Scholarship Program in June 2019. All scholars select topics based on their community’s needs. They learn so many things while planning a project, like budgeting, project management and how to have a helpful and enjoyable conversation in person. The main goal of the community leadership project   

Reading Time: 8 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads: Shadhika Alum collection. Learn more. Razia and Amkamsoom are sisters first, as well as Shadhika Alum from our partner site STOP in Delhi. They were interviewed by Program Officer Kendra Nicolai. Press play to hear their introduction. Hi Razia and Amkamsoom. Can you both introduce yourselves to our Shadhika readers?   

Reading Time: 7 minutes This interview is part of our When She Leads: Shadhika Alum collection. Learn more. Savita is a Shadhika Alum from our partner site Vacha in Mumbai. She was interviewed by Program Officer Kendra Nicolai. Press play to hear Savita’s introduction. Hi Savita. Can you introduce yourself to our Shadhika readers? My name is Savita from Mumbai. I participated with   

Reading Time: 6 minutes Young women and girls in India typically don’t get opportunities to enjoy their childhood years to the same extent that their counterparts do in the Western world. Many are born into abject poverty and are confronted with the decisions of supporting and contributing to the survival of their family unit instead of going to school   

Reading Time: 3 minutes March is an important month. For many of us, March 2020 held the last weeks of in-person work  before we were sent to work from home for “a couple of weeks or until further notice.” This month marks a painful anniversary. In many countries including India, March is also Women’s History Month to commemorate the   

Reading Time: 4 minutes In its second year, “When She Leads” is our annual interview series that celebrates and affirms the leadership, innovation, determination and resilience of the young women of Shadhika, as well as the women leaders at Shadhika’s partner sites across the Indian diaspora. These first-person accounts offer personal insight into the daily experiences of the lives   

Reading Time: 6 minutes Shadhika’s work to empower young women to reach their full potential begins with the Supports for Success (S4S) program. Since its inception, Supports for Success has become the foundational program through which Shadhika and our partners aim to advance Indian young women’s rights and ultimately support empowered young women leaders. As of 2021, Shadhika works   

Reading Time: 3 minutes Our theory of change is based on the seemingly simple idea that when we invest in the individual girl, she will create a groundswell of change that will lift up her community and that will ripple throughout the world to affect positive change. It relies on a scaling model that believes in grassroots partnerships as   

Reading Time: 3 minutes Editor’s note: This blog was updated post-publication after the violent insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.  The attempted coup on the U.S. Capitol led by violent mobs last week reminded us that, when people who occupy a privileged position at the top of power pyramids feel like the playing field is being