Shadhika

Educated, empowered women transform the world. That’s why I am so passionate about Shadhika’s mission. There is nothing like seeing the excitement girls bring to the opportunity of going to school and completing their education—an opportunity often denied to them and reserved for their brothers. Their excitement is a palpable hunger for school subjects, but   

Whatever our individual life circumstances, it is a safe assumption that we are never going back to the way things were.  First, the novel coronavirus has altered the status quo of human interaction. Even after a vaccine against COVID-19 is successfully created and distributed, epidemiologists agree that the customary use of facemasks and health checks   

Shadhika’s mission is grounded in my wife Juthica’s original desire to remedy the plight of disenfranchised women in the Non-Criminal Lunatic wing of Calcutta’s prisons. Equipped with her Master’s Degree in Social Work, Juthica’s first job was with the YWCA in Calcutta and one of Juthica’s assignments was to visit women in local prisons, as   

This interview is part of our When She Leads Under Lockdown series. Learn more. COVID-19 continues to keep the young women of Shadhika isolated from friends, school, and their NGO community centers. In this interview, sisters Sanjuckta and Pranjuckta discuss their experiences since the lockdown and how they’re supporting and encouraging each other. Sanjuckta and   

This interview is part of our When She Leads Under Lockdown series. Learn more. COVID-19 continues to keep the young women of Shadhika isolated from friends, school, and their NGO community centers. In this interview, four young women at Baale Mane, our partner site on the outskirts of Bangalore, discuss their experiences since the lockdown   

This interview is part of our When She Leads Under Lockdown series. Learn more. As the deadly spread of COVID-19 continues, many young women in India face the prospect of their family migrating away from the city back to their village of origin. Due to the lockdown and loss of income, many families feel this   

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, Shadhika raised over $20,000 for our COVID-19 fund to give our partner sites the flexibility to address emerging needs on the ground. Over the last 3 months, India has been under a strict national lockdown, leaving businesses and schools closed and leading to devastating unemployment rates. Our partners listened to the   

This interview is part of our When She Leads Under Lockdown series. Learn more. Reshma is a third-year Shadhika Scholar pursuing a nursing degree at Rufaida College of Nursing Jamiya Hamdard in Delhi. She is a participant with our grantee partner site, STOP India. Reshma was interviewed by Kendra Nicolai, Shadhika’s U.S.-based Program Officer. Hi   

When She Leads is an interview series celebrating and affirming the young women of Shadhika’s leadership. At Shadhika, we know that “When she leads, change follows” and so, we are excited to bring you first-hand interviews and stories from our young women leaders. When She Leads Under Lockdown Throughout COVID-19 in India, the young women   

Change is hard. Whether it is a change in our personal relationships or in a job situation. In a moment when change feels particularly needed yet thorny, what can we do as grant-makers to make a difference? I assumed my new position as the world was shaken by the deadly spread of COVID-19 through our   

Shadhika exists to equip girls in India with the skills and confidence to overcome the violence, discrimination, and injustice that deny their human rights. Those rights are inalienable and justice is indivisible. We believe that the fight for gender equity in India is inextricably tied to the fight for racial justice in the U.S. We support   

As much of the world has slowed down to manage the spread of COVID-19, the Shadhika Scholars program has steadily continued this year. We are pleased to share our 2020 Shadhika Scholars and about our scholarship program.  Our annual application process begins in March, as young women from our partner sites apply for a chance   

Cyclone Amphan made landfall close to Sundarbans between West Bengal and Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon, washing away Indian islands to the mainland and uprooting trees and electricity poles in six-and-a-half hours that left Kolkata and most of south Bengal pulverized. Early reports show the cyclone claimed 10 to 12 lives in West Bengal and destroyed over 5,500   

Shadhika is celebrating the graduation of 8 scholars this year! These young women of Shadhika have broken barriers, overcome challenges, and persevered to receive undergraduate degrees that are so well deserved.  This is Shadhika’s third graduating class, who will now join a group of 30 Shadhika Alumnae paving the path for Shadhika’s future. Two graduates   

Shadhika is proud to join The Deliver for Good Campaign and over 700 organizations from across 100 countries to advocate for the world’s governments to apply a gender lens and put girls, women, and gender equality at the center of COVID-19 preparedness, response, and recovery. The following is an excerpt from the open letter, which   

Dear Friends, In June of last year Kim Burnett, Shadhika’s long time President and CEO, announced to the Board of Directors she would be stepping down this spring. This news was relayed to the Shadhika community in the January 2020 newsletter.  While the board was saddened by this news, we immediately formed a Transition Committee and got   

As we all know India is a country of many religions and celebrations. In all the festivals, we show respect to all religions and care for each other. During a festival, we are closer to each other and get the chance to learn more about other cultures and religions. The Ramadan month This year, Ramadan   

Shadhika’s Making HERstory interns share how they are managing classes while their universities and community centers are closed under lockdown. How have your studies have been affected during the lockdown? Pranjuckta: Studies are affected very badly. The lockdown is breaking the continuity of our days –going to school, coming home, doing homework. Two of my   

We all know the current situation in the world. We are all doing our best to follow precautions and maintain social distancing to prevent Covid-19 from spreading. In India, we are on lockdown for so many days and will continue this until May 3. I live in Mumbai, in a slum area. Here, there are   

Sabah, a member of Shadhika’s staff, is working from home for the first time during a national lockdown. She lives in Mumbai with her family. The current situation is becoming worse day by day. Everyone here is taking precautions and maintaining social distance. Before I would go to a co-working office, but due to coronavirus   

For many, “going virtual” during the pandemic has been quite easy. In the U.S. we are accustomed to the idea of working remotely, and many businesses and even more universities and schools have adapted to this crisis relatively easily through virtual work and learning. However, in low-income communities where internet can be inconsistent and telecommunications   

What does it really mean to “social-distance” in India, a country with more than 1 billion residents? This week, we asked the young women of Shadhika and our partner sites about their experiences social distancing under lockdown. From the Field A typically crowded and energetic place, the community of Bowbazar in Bengal, where our partner   

Around the world, Covid-19 is everyone’s current situation.  We all are suffering from this virus, but our doctors, public officials, and other front line workers are fighting with coronavirus for us. Shadhika is proud to have an alumnae named Durga, who is a chemist and is working very hard in this dangerous atmosphere. As a   

This week, the young women we support and our partners shared more about the current climate in India being under a lockdown. A common theme that came through from their reports was a lack of access to proper, preventative hygiene. Wash your hands with our Making HERstory Interns Shadhika’s four Making HERstory interns, Afreen, Pranjuckta,   

Dear Friends and Supporters of Shadhika – The COVID-19 outbreak has shown all of us how interconnected we are and how small our big world has become. We are seeing how each of our individual actions impact each other– even if we are half a world away. Whether we are in India or the U.S.,   

This week, Shadhika and Kiran Anjali Project (KAP) had the pleasure of inviting Navya, a Shadhika Scholar with our partner site Baale Mane in Bangalore, India, to the United States. While Navya’s original itinerary included speaking at Shadhika and KAP fundraisers this week, plans changed due to concerns of health and safety, so we flew   

It is 4:00am as Sabah and I quietly leave our hotel and arrive at the train station in Kolkata.  This is my first experience in a train station and taking a train in India. Arriving there, we find families sleeping among the hustle and bustle of people going about their travel day.  We board the   

Their voices remind me of bravery, their eyes explain pain, and their hearts are looking for freedom. Most of the women in the villages outside the city of Varanasi can be seen working in the green fields. There are always more women than men. Their sarees and the green paddy fields are the real meaning   

You see them everywhere. Broken and discarded and thrown into the gutters. Used once, they no longer have value. These are India’s small, handmade clay tea cups, known as bhar, kulhar, or shikora. You find these cups at any street tea stall. Costing only a few rupees, the tea is sweet and milky. Just as   

Dear Friends of Shadhika, Today we are sharing, with very mixed emotions, the news of an important leadership transition at Shadhika. Kim Burnett, Shadhika’s President and CEO, will be stepping down in June, 2020. While we know that Kim is ready for her next big adventure, and we are truly excited to see what she   

The beginning of a new year or a new decade have always been times of deep reflection for me. This year has been no different. As I take stock of Shadhika’s accomplishments over the past decade and consider the organization’s future, I have made the hard decision that it is time for me to step   

They have a secret. They cannot tell you where you live, for fear you will shun them. They cannot tell you about their family, for fear you will judge them. They cannot tell you about their lives, for fear you will betray them. They have a secret. A secret so profound, it has created a   

Many of us have been following the unrest surrounding the passage of India’s Citizenship Amendment Act. We wanted to share the following thoughts on this moment from the perspective of one of the young women we support. We all are one and that’s how we Indians live. Our country is known for being the biggest