From disruptors to leaders: HerStory’s Women on a Mission Awards 2022 celebrate champions of change

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

― Nora Ephron

It’s 2022, and women still need to forge a formidable war to rewrite history. 

“Why do we need to recognise a separate category of women changemakers, or have exclusive dialogues around women in the workforce — especially if we are talking about creating a world where men and women are equal?” 

Now there’s a frequently asked question — the answer to which lies in many a study, survey, analysis, report, index, and what-have-you on the state of gender equity in the workplace and in the world at large.

It is not an equal world yet. 

If women today have lesser barriers in entering the workforce, the same can’t be said about their representation in senior managerial positions. Women are known to be putting in double the effort in the same position than their male counterparts. Questions of promotions, perks and honours are still often marred by questions about marriage, pregnancy and motherhood. 

Hence, it is critical to celebrate women achievers who are creating a lasting impact through their work and commitment to make a positive difference to the world we live in. As leaders in their fields, they have given currency to dialogues around women’s rights and representation and accelerated women’s self-agency by nurturing a positive ecosystem. 

HerStory has steadfastly reported their stories for many years through initiatives like our flagship Women on a Mission Summit.

HerStory’s Women on a Mission Summit, being held on March 11-12, 2022, during the International Women’s Day week, serves as a platform for inspiration to move people to action via provocative conversations, compelling story-telling and pledges to advance change for women in all fields.

This year, we’re excited to announce that the Women on a Mission Summit will honour women leaders from diverse fields and their outstanding contribution to building a new India through the Women on A Mission 2022 Awards. 

Why recognise women changemakers

Women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and the march towards gender equality is still a long way fraught with severe challenges. 

Owing to school closure as a response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Malala Fund research estimated that 20 million girls in developing countries may never return to the classroom. Several studies have suggested a generation of India’s girls have been thrown into the vicious cycle of child labour, child marriage, and so on, disrupting their rights, dreams and aspirations. 

If on one hand, the progress made on gender equality is on a reverse spin, the female labour force participation rate in India shows that despite comprising over half the country’s population, women make up just 23.3 percent of the overall workforce. This means, around 77 percent of working age females remain locked out of the job market, suggesting a massive loss of economic opportunity for the country.

Despite the above statistics, women have also emerged as the face and heart of the pandemic, rising to the call of duty as frontline workers — as doctors, nurses and on-ground health activists — displaying exemplary strength and resilience. Some have charted their own journey of emancipation from being homemakers to entrepreneurs, leveraging their skills in cooking to stitching, the so-called homely skills.

Such examples have steered the dialogue of giving women their due for the invisible and unpaid domestic labour they perform and mitigating the gender pay gap..

We believe initiatives such as Women on a Mission 2022 Awards are a step forward in celebrating women role models who are at the forefront of putting women’s agendas forward.

A look at the Women on a Mission Awards

The past year also saw the largest number of startups joining the unicorn league, with four of them led by women — Priyanka Gill, Co-founder of The Good Glamm Group; Upasana Taku, Co-founder and COO of MobiKwik; Ruchi Kalra, Co-founder and CFO of Ofbusiness; and Ruchi Deepak, Co-founder, ACKO Insurance.

Falguni Nayar, Founder, Nykaa also became India’s newest self-made billionaire when the brand made its debut on the stock exchange. It was also India’s only woman-founded unicorn to go public.

An integral part of HerStory’s Women on a Mission 2022, the Women on a Mission Awards will honour women across 11 categories.

The categories include:

• Social Impact - Ruchira Gupta, Founder & President, Apne Aap
• Entrepreneurship - Ankiti Bose, Co-founder & CEO, Zilingo 
• HeForHer - Harshit Gupta, Founder, Womenite 
• Young Achiever - Ananya Kamboj, Founder, Sports to Lead 
• Business Leader - Suchitra Ella, Co-founder and Joint MD, Bharat Biotech
• Education - Shreyasi Singh, Co-founder, Harappa Education 
• Tech & Innovation - Madhavi Shankar, Co-founder and CEO, SpaceBasic
• Health & Wellness - Ahana Gautam, Co-founder and CEO, Open Secret 
• Science & Technology - Ria Rastogi, Co-founder and COO, Neuphony
• Art & Culture - Dia Mirza, Actor, Producer, UNEP Goodwill Ambassador and UN SG's Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals | Global Ambassador IFAW 
• Fashion - Anita Dongre, Indian Fashion Designer

Do tune in to listen to the stories of our category winners!

We hope their shining stories will set the narrative rolling for more such stories to emerge from across India. Stories of “heroines” who dared to script their own destiny and of rule breakers who chose to behave outside society’s model code of conduct.