It may sound like an outlandish statement to describe change and progress as “magic”, but given the state of the world today, perhaps it should be uttered more!
In August of this year, a cohort of 50 women from across India gathered for an annual conference, which was the culmination of a 10-month fellowship they participated in. The WomenLead India fellowship program, powered by Reliance Foundation and Vital Voices, focused on an ambitious, urgent agenda for women’s leadership in India by investing in changemakers who are taking on the world’s greatest challenges and those who play a catalytic role towards the achievement of transformational economic, environmental and social changes. The agenda was designed to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The four key areas of focus were rural transformation, education, sports development, and arts, culture & heritage – all issues that can play a vital role in changing the course of a person’s life as well as that of an entire country. The fully funded competitive program nurtures women leaders in the social sector to strengthen their leadership capacity.
One of the women who took part in this year’s fellowship was Dr. Renita Dubey, the executive director of a non-profit called WIRES (Women in Renewable Energy Sector) which promotes the exchange of ideas, opinions, experiences, and energy job-related opportunities for Women Energy Professionals and Students. As part of the rural transformation track, Renita shared in a press release that being part of this year’s cohort ignited a kind of magic inside her, considering the barriers that often exist for women in her field.
“The Energy sector has historically been a male-dominated field, on average there are 76% fewer women than men, where every sector witnesses gender biases and Inequality. I feel like a strong woman, a transformational leader who can move mountains, remove disparities and barriers, and lead by example with my actions, positive behavior and truly create a social impact,” she said.
The woman spearheading the WomenLead India Fellowship is Manira Alva – Vice President of Issue Advocacy at Vital Voices who also has over 25-years of multi-genre media experience, gendered-policy formulation and political strategizing. As the Vice President of Issue Advocacy, she oversees a number of fellowships focused on building the capacity of women leaders in political office and advocacy. She is committed to changing the narrative and culture regarding women and public leadership.
Given her extensive experience seeing first hand the transformational magic that happens when women are empowered into leadership positions, we asked Manira more about her work, and how the fellowship is working to change the status quo for women in India.
Being born into a family tradition of women being in politics, what kind of impact did this have on you as a young girl, in terms of your outlook on the world?
To have two generations of working and economically independent women ahead of me in a country not deemed progressive by many in these parts of the world, has not just impacted me but defined me and made me aware of the privilege I had of being raised by a feminist father and the role of male allyship. Ours was a political home where dialogue, debate and dissent were encouraged. I believe in the power of political purpose and how power expands when shared.
Having over 25 years of experience working in media and politics, what have been some of your highlights so far?
I am basically a storyteller and I have always been passionate about impactful stories because change often comes from where it is least expected. Reporting for India’s first television climate series back in 1993 that reached more than a million viewers and won a “Green Oscar,” was a big one and gives me a deep understanding of the climate crisis today. Directing a BBC observational series on the Indian Army training of their commando’s was a high point and finally a New York academy award-winning documentary on the 2012 dastardly rape of young Indian woman in a public space.
As part of India’s High-Level Committee on the Status of Women, what were some of the biggest changes and actions you oversaw or helped to change?
Ours was a recommendation-based report to the government of India and was not binding. Some of the important recommendations related to recognizing Women Led Households for all government-related programs and grants. This was a category, until then not recognized and gave single women their rightful place.
Can you tell us about your involvement with Vital Voices, and what kinds of issues you are advocating for?
I lead Issue Advocacy at Vital Voices. At present, two of the most important issues that we are focussing on are related to the impact of disinformation and online violence on women leaders across the world and the need for more women from the indigenous and marginalized groups at the climate table. Recently, we led a collaborative global effort to get The Islamic Republic of Iran voted off of the UN Commission on the Status of Women by the Member States. This was an unprecedented effort and had never been done before in the history of the CSW.
What was it like leading the recent WomenLead India Fellowship, and what excited you most about seeing the women who came to attend and learn?
Irrespective of where and what you work on, the opportunity to connect with and serve women from your own country is perhaps the most exciting! To see the convergence of tech into projects to serve the poorest of the poor or conserve the arts from a climate-affected region or offer meaningful educational opportunities to first generation-learners.
And finally, it is the magic that is unleashed when women come together with their ideas and start to share and collaborate and incubate bigger ideas together. I wish we could have had more funding opportunities for many of their ideas because we at Vital Voices recognize that there is greater magic when women are able to get money in their hands to take their projects forward.
For us at Vital Voices, we believe in the power of women’s leadership and their ability to drive change and progress because of the deep roots they have in their communities.
What message or advice do you have for especially young women in India who want to pursue leadership, but are unsure how to navigate the barriers in their way?
I will adapt the famous poem of Rabindranath Tagore, ‘Keep your mind without fear, hold your head high and don’t be scared to step out of your comfort zone and embrace the other.’
And, for heavens sake, pay it forward!
Click the links to learn more about the next WomenLead India fellowship, as well as the work of Vital Voices and the Reliance Foundation.
