LEADING THROUGH ADVERSITIES: MY COURAGE IS MY CAPITAL!
How are women being impacted by COVID-19, and how are they leading to address the challenges faced by others? To learn, The Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society is conducting a series of interviews with women entrepreneurs and ambassadors for women’s empowerment around the world. These interviews are unveiling unique insights into the far-reaching impacts of Covid-19, and the diverse ways these inspiring women are responding to the crisis with leadership and innovation.
Chetna Gala Sinha, Founder and Chair, Mann Deshi Bank & Foundation Chetna Gala Sinha is the Founder-Chairperson of Mann Deshi Bank and Mann Deshi Foundation. Chetna founded the Mann Deshi Foundation in 1996 in Mhaswad, a droughtstricken area of Maharashtra, with the aim of economically and socially empowering rural women. In 1997, she set up India’s first bank for and by rural women. the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank. Today, the Mann Deshi Bank has over 100,000 account holders, has loaned over $50 million and regularly creates new financial products to support the needs of female micro-entrepreneurs. Mann Deshi runs Business Schools, a Community Radio and a Chambers of Commerce for rural women micro entrepreneurs. To date, it has supported nearly half a million women. Chetna Gala Sinha has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India’s highest civilian award for women who work in the area of women’s empowerment. In 2018 she served as a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum in Davos.