New Delhi, 26th February 2018: Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Foundation (WIEF) held the second edition of National Leadership Summit on Women and Education and Indian women excellence and Leadership awards on 18th February 2019 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, where Startup Success Stories was the Online Media Partner for the summit. The awards were introduced to acknowledge women and men who are on a mission of empowering women entrepreneurs all across India. The awards focused on honoring Women Entrepreneurs all across India who have set a standard in a male Dominating Industry. The event included Key-note Speakers from various industries and panel discussions thereof.
The ceremony kicked off with a welcome note from Dr. Shweta Singh, Founder, and CEO at Ennoble IP & WIEF, about the vision her foundation has, that is-every women irrespective of her background, should be financially independent. She wants women to be confident enough to take decisions themselves and forge their own path. Chief Guest of the Summit, Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce, Industry and Civil Aviation addressed the gathering by praising the organizers for the good work they have been doing which is focused entirely on women. He said “We are adding a new dimension to GeM(Government e-marketplace) scheme, which will be launched in the next few days. Whatever is made by the women self-made groups, Entrepreneurs, Artisans will be available for sale through GM Platform”. Anurag Srivastava, CISCO India CSR Lead discussed the importance of this kind of awards and how they act as a catalyst and motivate women to keep doing the good work. Dr. Sanjay Mishra, Head of Women Scientist Program, in his speech, encouraged all the awardees to keep on doing the good work they have been doing but with greater force and broader perspective. Other Key-note speaker included Dr. Anurag Batra, Chairman, and Editor-in-chief of BW Businessworld and Exchange4media. Dinesh Jotwani, Head of Govt. Affairs at NCR Corp. advised that there is a lot of scope and opportunities for women in the corporate sector. Shweta Jha, Aaj Tak Associate Executive Producer, in a panel discussion mentioned the importance of family support for a stressful and untimely job like hers. Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director of Atal Innovation speaks about how being surrounded by women in his house, he has developed a sensitivity towards the female gender.
After a few speeches, Panel Discussions were held. The topic of the first panel discussion was ‘What Women Want: Equal Eye for Women in Business’. The panel included Key-note speakers- Dr. Sanjay Mishra, Head of Women Scientist Program, Aaj Tak Executive producer Shweta Jha, General Counsel Aricent Lakshika Joshi, Tie Delhi Sudha Sastri, Clinic Eximus CEO Dr. Prerna Taneja, and Accures Legal Founder Vedant pujari. The outcome of the panel was that women should act bravely to be changemakers they want to be and that there is a thin line between success and support. If they are supported well enough by their families, success will come eventually. The topic of other panels of discussion was ‘Women of Colours and Capital’. The panel included Key-note speakers- Tatya Impressions Founder Rajni Rathi, Renous Consulting CEO Varun Dhingra, Mrs. India Earth & Founder of Diksha Chhabra Fitness Consultation Diksha Chhabra, Z-Nation co-Founder Neha Jain, WEE foundation co-head Jyotsna Dhanuka.
Winners of Indian Women excellence and Leadership award in this year’s Event Included- Inc 42 co-Founder Pooja Sareen, Cheapest and Nearest Founder Priyanka Madnani, Girlscript Founder Anubha Maneshwar, Hyderabadi Jwellery Founder Sadiya Khursheed, Vsual Brewery Founder Vimla Rajkumari, Pankh Handicrafts co-Founder Gouree Sanket Manjarekar, Svatanya Founder Deepa Pant, Bluepine Food’s Aditi Bhutia Madan, Bunkojunko Founder Bhavini Parikh, Uniworld Founder Dr. Radhika Srivastava Adholeya, Vyomini Founder Prachi Kaushik, Social Impact mentor Shreelata Krishnan, Organiko Beautifying Life Founder Pooja Kaul, Startup labs Founder and CEO Shruti Aggarwal, ED Times Founder Juhi Garg, Upavidhi law firm Founder Hetal V. Chaddha, Wovoyage Founder Rashmi Chadha, Surprise Someone Founder Pinky Maheswari, BD Parenting co-Founder Tamanna Dhamija, Heads up for Tails Founder Rashi Sanon Narang, My friend My Guru Founder Khushbu Joshi Gajakas, Nature Organic Founder Sonia Sharma, Every Flavour Founder Tanisha Fagwani, Z Nation labs co-Founder Neha Jain, Tatya Impressions Founder Rajni Rathi, Turacoz Healthcare Founder Namrata Singh, Mcura Mobile Health co-Founder Madhubala Radhakrishnan, Grace Fertility Centre Founder Dr. Reubina Singh, Aaj Tak Associate Executive Producer Shweta Jha, Head General Counsel Aricent’s Lakshika Joshi, MICA Incubator chairperson Prof. UT Rao, CISCO India CSR lead Anurag Srivastava, KPMG Senior Advisor Dr. Pinaki Ghosh, Accures Legal Founder Vedant Pujari and Renous Consulting CEO Varun Dhingra.
About National Leadership Summit on Women and Education:
The event provided a platform for all women entrepreneurs to speak and meet up. Not only women Entrepreneurs were invited, we saw many renowned men in the field of business and education give effective speeches on why every woman in our country should be financially independent. The panel discussions were highly insightful. We heard heart felting stories by the women in business and how they overcame norms in the society by gaining confidence in themselves to break the existing patriarchal ideology. Women present there could not emphasize it enough as to why their family support is all they need to start something new. Women supporting women is all we need. WIEF has been a constant igniter for creating social change by investing in the power of women and girls all across India. The power of the female could be seen throughout the event.