International Women's Day 2023 Live Updates: Women Tech Leaders on "DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality"
Puja Issar, Managing Director of India, AnitaB.Org India
“Empowering women is more than just a responsibility, it is a moral impetus for a better and more inclusive world. On this International Women's Day, let us celebrate the incredible women who are breaking barriers and driving innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), despite the inherent gender bias and discrimination.
As we celebrate their achievements and strength, we must also work towards creating more inclusive and diverse STEM communities that breaks down barriers and offer support to aspiring young women. Let us also challenge the stereotypes that often hold women back in STEM and advocate for equal opportunities, pay and representation. By promoting gender diversity, we can unlock new perspectives that drives innovation and solve some of the world’s most urgent issues. Because when women succeed, we all succeed.”
Nina Nair, Senior Vice President & HRD Head, India & Americas
“As an organisation, we have laid a strong focus on creating a gender-inclusive workplace. To enable this, our company hired over three thousand two hundred women employees during the year, taking the overall number of women in its workforce to over one-third. The company’s equitable and inclusive policies and initiatives have been lauded by the industry.
Our clear focus in the past years has been to make our organisation gender diverse and inclusive. We strongly believe that a collaboration of unique individuals creates inventive solutions. This is why we at [24]7.ai aim to create an equitable workplace that is flexible, supportive, and rewarding so that our employees are happy at work. Our focus on gender diversity has helped us ensure that over a third of our workforce are women, and even our senior leadership team comprises women who hold key positions across varied teams.”
Upasana Taku – Co-Founder of Mobikwik
MobiKwik, the largest independent mobile payments network in India, was established in April 2009 by Upasana Taku and Bipin Preet Singh. It connects over 30 million customers with 75,000 businesses and enables you to shop at stores, pay bills, recharge, send money, and accept payments with just one tap. Upasana is a Stanford University alumnus with more than ten years of expertise in the fintech industry. Numerous people have found encouragement in her entrepreneurial career. She has received the Associated Chambers of Business and Industry of India's "Best Women Entrepreneur Award" for 2017. (ASSOCHAM). The co-founder, who is the first woman to lead a payments business in India, is currently focusing on the direction the country's fintech market should take.
India has about 13.76%, female entrepreneurs. Which is more down than the average figures in developing and developed countries. The numbers are even more decreasing if we talk about specific sectors, like, the IT sector, of which India is considered to be a hub. That being said, there are some women in the IT industry who have stood out and proven themselves as leaders. As we celebrate Women's Day, let's celebrate some female leaders who have established innovative businesses in various domains.