Young team on mission to empower women

Such is their ambition that Anannya Parekh, founder of Inner Goddess Academy, told DT Next, “We want to be the world’s largest personality development course for women.”

Looking at their progress since inception, the Inner Goddess Academy seems primed to reach their goals. It began when Anannya, who is currently an engineering student in the city, read Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, and was inspired to set up her initiative. This weekend will see their third conference in the city, and the girls are more confident than ever.

“I realised that there existed an ambition and leadership gap amongst women due to a lack of business, strategic or financial acumen. This could be due to societal or personal concerns, but there had to be a platform for young girls to be equipped with the information and skills to actively increase the female workforce in India, and cater to their economic empowerment,” explained Anannya.

Today, the academy boasts of a 10-member team as well as 30 volunteers, who work towards hosting workshops every month for the women who sign up – as well as conferences for networking. They also work with girls in orphanages across the city. “Last year, I was selected as the Indian delegate to attend the G(irls)20 Summit in Munich and represent the country. It was a chance to interact with economic leaders from across the world, understand with social and cultural context the state of girls in India, and learn to implement new ideas to empower women back home,” she said.

The upcoming conference, to be held on February 3 and 4 at Backyard co-working space in Adyar, will host a range of activities, encourage introspection and networking, focus on women’s rights upliftment in India, and create self-awareness. “The event is open to all but the attendees are mostly teens and women in their mid-20s. Looking ahead, we want to expand globally and create a digital platform via which women across the world can access our content,” signed off the youngster.