On 23rd of April, IE Business School celebrated the 4th version of the “I AM WOMAN” Awards which is an initiative of IE Alumnus Dr. Karan Gupta and IE Business School . . This award is in fact a movement that believes that women are reservoirs of strength. On this platform every year, powerful women speak about their personal and professional lives, thereby inspiring many others.
Dr. Karan Gupta expressed, “IE Business School and KGEF(Karan Gupta Education Foundation) actively support and encourage women in business and have special scholarships for women. We recognise the challenges that women in business face and wish to support them in every way that we possibly can. In fact, 51% of the students at IE university are women – one of the highest female ratios among any leading university worldwide. We have a scholarship fund for women which ranges in millions of Euros just to support women in business.”
In its fourth edition, the I Am Woman Awards once again celebrated and awarded women achievers for their extraordinary work, breaking the glass ceiling in their respective fields. The awardees this year included Actor and Author Sonali Bendre, Entrepreneur and Designer Neeta Lulla, Infosys Learning Head Kisha Gupta, Entrepreneur and Genesis Co-founder Deepika Gehani, Speaker and Author Priya Kumar, Activist and Lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat and Activist Neehari Mandali and Dr. Sindhutai Sakpal. The event was hosted by Actress Manasi Joshi Roy and Singer Manasi Scott alongside Actors and Directors Rohit Roy, Tanuj Virwani and Parvin Dabas.
The women in business panel spoke about how the economy is changing and how businesses are getting more disruptive and digital today. The women spoke about how they are changing to adapt to this new, version 2.0. The discussion also revolved around the struggles that women face in business and in reaching the top of the corporate ladder. The women discussed how they as women in business can and are adding value to the environment and society at large.
From a municipal School, Almas Mukri won the IE Social Impact business plan startup competition. Her business ‘Basket of Joy’ is an organic fruits basket company that creates social impact. The 16 year old daughter of a vegetable vendor, sources fruits from poor organic farmers and woven baskets from sex workers. The greeting cards sold by her are made by handicapped people and the couriers used employ deaf people. Almas was a special guest at the I Am Woman event and shared her story.