This NGO Has Empowered 150+ Women In UP With Its Mentorship Project

In 2017, I co-founded an intersectional feminist NGO ‘The Azaad Initiative’, which works for economic independence and social inclusion of genders. The flagship project of the NGO is the ‘She-Mentorship Project’. The project emerged as a result of my academic study for the Ministry of Women And Child Development on ‘Indian Women in Leadership Roles’, which concluded that lack of structured professional mentoring is a prime impediment to women’s ambitions.

Launched in 2017 in Uttar Pradesh (UP), one of India’s most patriarchal states, She-Mentorship focused on promoting vocational skills, transferred from privileged women allies to underprivileged women seekers, thereby creating a redressal within the problematic system itself. The project’s initial cohort of 30 came from our personal network, as I encouraged women to tale forward their legacy of education and professional experience to the grassroots.

Motivated by the success of the preliminary attempt, I lobbied the project before the National Skill Development Corporation for a partnership. In my proposal, I illustrated the impact and mutual benefit of creating such a sisterhood. A year and half hence, She-Mentorship has expanded to 150+ women, creating an unprecedented impact in nine cities of UP.

She – Mentorship‘s products range from home utilities to luxurious and sustainable products, keeping in regard the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. Some of the product pictures under the She-Mentorship Project are:

1. 100% organic coconut oil – Sunita’s coconut oil
2. Chemical-free face scrubs made from kitchen ingredients – Damak
3. Wedding decor made from household waste – Sajaawat
4. Key-rings and luggage tags from industrial waste – Overdrive
5. Discarded ceramic capsules for home decor – Forest Capsule
6. Cloth bags from old fabric – Jaagruti
7. Woolen mufflers from old yet warm wool – Aaram
8. Beeswax candles – Ek Pahel
9. Chemical-free soap bars – Chahat
10. Incense candles and sticks – Vibe
11. 100% organic kitchen masalas – Mirch Masala
12. Home plants – Baghban
13. Quilling candles from waste paper – Crafty Panda

Article Credit: youthkiawaaz