AWIB, An Indian Think Tank is bringing Prosperity among Women Entrepreneurs in India and South East Asia

The Association of Women in Business (AWIB), an India-based think tank is set to positively impact the lives of millions of women in India and Southeast Asia. The organization promotes women entrepreneurship and women in corporate leadership roles by eliminating the barriers to business such as access to networks, enhancing their ability to scale up and access to finance.

AWE participant Tage Rita from Arunachal Pradesh received the Nari Shakti puraskar on 8th March’ 22

In a short span of time since its inception in 2018, AWIB has partnered with leading incubators and entrepreneurship organizations across India and South East Asia to conduct bootcamps, design thinking workshops, state-wide roundtables, and provide a mentoring platform for women entrepreneurs who require business coaching.

AWIB had launched its first program with the US Consulate Kolkata “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” with UT Austin as lead implementation partner in 2019. Applauding this program, Ms. Jasmine Hussain, Chairperson of the Scholars Society in Guwahati, Assam, India says, “As an edu-entrepreneur, I launched my dream project of delivering accessible education using the medium as English. During the unprecedented pandemic times, AWIB’s in-depth mentoring benefited me in surviving my school project.” Jasmine is now the convenor of AWIB Assam State Council and has launched young women internship platform with her peers and SIDBI as the knowledge partner on 8^th March 2022. AWIB is the knowledge partner to the US Alumni funded Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in North East and East Indian states too.

Co-founder and President of AWIB, Dr. Divya Rajput says, “As a member-based organization, providing benefits to our members is core to us. What makes the AWIB truly sustainable is that the members collaborate to drive its many activities themselves: such as philanthropic activities for cancer care, crowdfunding to support women scaleup their businesses, operations of its marketplace, resource sharing and launchpad events. AWIB is a member of the UN Global Compact Network and is striving towards achieving at least 7 of UN SDGs 2030 to make the World a better place for future generations.”

AWIB also provides a market access platform to women entrepreneurs to sell their eco-friendly and organic products online on www.kakul.market so that sustainability conscious customers can purchase such products conveniently. “We are not merely mentoring women leaders; we are mentoring both men and women who can make space for fellow women to lead,” says Gayatri Subramaniam, Executive Director AWIB.