Give to Gain: Empower Women, Uphold Rights, Justice and Action

Deepthi Nair, Co-founder, Happy Monk

Women’s Day is a celebration of the strength that comes from shared ambition and mutual support. Across industries, women are building, leading, and shaping businesses with resilience, empathy, and sharp perspective. The journey of Happy Monk has been deeply shaped by collaboration and the strength of talented women who continue to contribute with passion and purpose. We have chosen to work with them not just for their expertise, but for their deep sense of ownership, accountability, and genuine care for the brand. Supporting one another creates stronger foundations, stronger teams, and a future that is more inclusive for all.

Pooja Merani, COO, Wacoal India

Women’s empowerment, to me, is about freedom, the freedom to make choices without compromise and to pursue ambitions without hesitation. It’s about building ecosystems where women feel confident, supported, and respected in every space they occupy. In our journey at Wacoal, we’ve seen how confidence can start with something deeply personal, simply feeling comfortable in your own skin. This Women’s Day, I believe real progress lies in consistently creating opportunities, conversations, and environments where women can thrive without having to adjust who they are.

Deepika Dutta Kapoor, Head of UI & UX Practice, Newgen Software

The greatest challenge today is the "template". Women are often expected to be like rubber - stretching ourselves to fit a rigid frame that wasn’t built for us. But when you focus on fitting in, you stop standing out. As a woman leader, my advice is, Ignore the old templates and bring your own blueprint to the table.

Arushi Verma, Co-founder, FITPASS

Women’s empowerment, to me, goes far beyond simply creating opportunities, it’s about true ownership. It’s about ensuring women have a genuine seat at the table, real decision-making authority, and the confidence to advocate for their worth. I firmly believe we must encourage women to negotiate unapologetically and to prioritise their wellbeing without guilt.

Strength isn’t only economic; it’s physical and mental too. When women feel secure in their values and strong within themselves, they don’t just progress individually, they begin to influence teams, businesses and entire ecosystems around them.

Vibha Jain, Head of Digital Lending Solutions Group, Newgen Software

Akin to the vision of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore of a new and awakened India pre-independence, Today I have a vision of a new evolved society…

Where a woman is without fear and her head is held high

Where her respect is supreme

Where she is not just worshipped in the temples but revered at homes

Where she is not seen as an object of lust

Where her contributions are valued and not taken for granted

Where she is seen as Decision Maker rather than a Decision Taker

A world where birth of a girl child becomes a celebration in itself

Into that Societal Era where “SHE” moves to the right-hand side of the Balance Sheet of Life!

Vandana Sethhi, Founder - Luv My India & Water Communications

“Empower a woman, and you empower a nation.” The spirit of “Give to Gain” reminds us that real progress begins when opportunities are shared. In a country like India, when a woman is trusted with the space to learn, lead, and make decisions, she doesn’t just change her own future - she reshapes the possibilities for many around her.

Empowerment is not about offering support occasionally; it is about building a culture where women’s voices, ideas, and leadership are valued every day. When that happens, the gains are not symbolic. They become visible in the confidence of our communities and the progress of our nation. 

Shikha Bhatt, Head of Delivery – India, Newgen Software

Women today don’t lack capability; they still face ecosystems that question their confidence more than their competence. The real challenge isn’t about breaking the glass ceiling, it’s about navigating invisible expectations, double standards, and the constant need to prove impact.

My advice to women leaders is simple; own your voice without apology, build alliances instead of permission, and remember that leadership is not about fitting in, it’s about changing the space you walk into.

Aditi Handa, Co-founder and Head Chef, The Baker’s Dozen

Building The Baker’s Dozen has taught me that women’s empowerment isn’t a slogan, it’s a daily practice. At our factory in Kheda, we’ve intentionally hired and trained women from the local community, many of whom had never baked before. Watching them master a craft, earn steady incomes, and grow in confidence has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my journey. When women are given equal opportunity, clear expectations, and dignity of work, they rise, and they uplift families and communities along the way.

I was fortunate to grow up in a home where I was treated no differently from my brothers. There were equal expectations, equal responsibilities, and no shortcuts. That foundation, along with the resilience of building a bootstrapped business, shaped my belief that capability is the strongest form of confidence.

To young women and women entrepreneurs, my advice is simple: don’t wait for special treatment, seek equal opportunity and prepare yourself to own it. Invest in your skills, understand how money and decisions flow, and never hesitate to take your seat at the table and most importantly become financially independent. It is the most liberating and empowering decision one will take. Lead with ambition, but also with empathy, because when women grow, the impact goes far beyond just business.

Runki Goswami, CMO, Newgen Software

As organisations sprint toward AI-led models, women leaders are not just participating in the shift, they are coding its guardrails and steering its scale. Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are about 25% more likely to outperform on profitability, and diverse executive teams consistently show stronger innovation outcomes.

This is not optics, it is operating leverage. In the AI era, leading with technology means owning both the architecture and the accountability, and women are doing exactly that.

Stuti Ashok Gupta, Co-founder, Amrutam

For me, women’s empowerment begins with something we rarely talk about enough - informed health. At Amrutam, we work with thousands of women navigating PCOS, irregular and painful periods, and hormonal imbalances that they’ve been told to “just tolerate.”

Empowerment cannot exist where discomfort is normalised, and women are expected to function through imbalance without support.

Building Amrutam as a women-centric brand, powered largely by a women-led team, has shown me how transformative the right knowledge can be. When women truly understand their bodies and feel heard, everything shifts: their confidence, their choices, and ultimately their futures.

This Women’s Day, I hope we move beyond surface-level celebration and instead focus on building ecosystems that genuinely support women, where care, opportunity and leadership are not exceptions, but the norm.