Redefining women’s leadership in 21st century

Hyderabad: Youngistaan Foundation conducted its fourth and final webinar on Topic: ‘Sustaining Women in Leadership Roles’  as part of their month-long campaign hosted observing International Women’s Day in partnership with Telangana Academy of Skill and Knowledge (TASK), Indian School of Business (ISB), Telangana Police and Women’s Safety Wing. Over the past four weeks, the Foundation engaged with over 1,000 young female students and aspiring entrepreneurs with the opportunity to interact and connect with 16 prominent speakers and 3 facilitators  across multiple sectors.
 
In the final session, over 300 young women took part in the interactive webinar which featured esteemed women speakers: Hari Chandana Dasari (IAS), Rema Rajeshwari (IPS), Padmashree awardee Dr. Manjula Anagani, and Shweta Kothari who shared their leadership experience and lessons with the participants.
 
The practical session led by Hari Chandana Dasari, IAS Collector and District Magistrate in Narayanpet, Telangana highlighted the significance of developing leadership skills and characteristics, i.e. courage, commitment, confidence and creativity (or, the 4 Cs of success) and the important role of this development towards becoming a good leader. She also emphasized on the importance of deleting phrases such as “Am I capable of doing that” from your dictionary.
 
In the first session of this webinar, Rema Rajeshwari, IPS District Police Chief discussed at length the crucial role of being prepared and committed to consistent hard work and innovation to make our mark in our desired career, constantly improve our skills and importantly, focusing on becoming a professional without creating gender segregated careers in our minds.   
 
Equipped with decades of experience, Dr. Manjula Anagani Padma Shri awardee, Gynecologist
emphasized the innate leadership skills of women and said "When we’re accepted as leaders at home, why aren’t we accepted as leaders outside? Be mindful, be inclusive, and be interested in creating an environment around you that respects the diversity within yourself."
 
Shweta Kothari, a journalist with 7 years of experience, focused on her experiences facing - and tackling - sexism in the workplace in the field of journalism, and said "We need workplace policies that support women which are more than just a few policies on leaves."
 
Concluding the month-long campaign, Arun Daniel Yellamaty, the founder of Youngistaan Foundation interacted with all the participants asking them to implement what all they’ve learnt during the past four sessions. He also announced that women who are seriously dreaming of becoming entrepreneurs will receive hand-holding support from the Foundation’s end.
 
Sri Chandana, a student pursuing her bachelors in Government Degree College said “This was a very powerful programme. The experiences of these 16 speakers may help us to make the right decisions in our life. We need more sessions like these in the coming future.”
 
Tanishka, a student pursuing her BBA from a private college said “Attending these sessions has been nothing but an eye-opener for me. I am massively inspired by these uplifting women who joined these sessions. I have gotten a vision and an idea on how to change society for the better. All and all I would like to thank the organisers for providing us a platform to interact with such powerful women.”
 
The month-long campaign was conducted with an aim to Enable, Orient and Sustain women in leadership roles. The recordings of all the four webinars are available on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter page of Youngistaan Foundation.