00:00UpSearch, an initiative by the prestigious business school XLRI, yet again successfully
00:26completed its fifth cohort of more than 150 women leaders across various sectors in India.
00:32The three-week leadership program was conducted by the Center for Gender Equality and Inclusive
00:38Leadership in association with XLRI.
00:41This initiative aims to empower women leaders globally, focusing on enhancing their roles
00:47in C-suite positions.
01:17Today we have some of the alumni of UpSearch, the first edition, who have come back to pay it back
01:23and are supporting this cohort, which is just fabulous. And this is what we had in mind all day.
01:27The Center's sole purpose is to design interventions like this, like UpSearch,
01:34so that it actually has a resounding impact across industries. So we have industries,
01:42more than about 120 organizations, 40-odd industries represented. But the Center's
01:48sole purpose is not just interventions like this to fuel people's and women's aspirations,
01:54but also to convert this into a strong body of research, into what we need to do differently
01:59as a country, to actually enable more women across multiple sectors. I think to me those are
02:06two signals. One, that the program is extremely good quality, and I stand here saying that today
02:10with pride after four cohorts and now in the fifth cohort. But also importantly, the fact that
02:15it's a burning cause and organizations realize that and that's the reason we've had overwhelming
02:19response. We've gone from a purely virtual three-week program to a hybrid three-week format.
02:25So the first two weeks are virtual events and then we all come together here in Bangalore
02:30for the grand finale, which is what we're here for today. It's a very unique one because it brings
02:36together so many senior women leaders like this cohort, the average work experience is 19 and a
02:41half years, which is a very senior cohort and 150 of them get to come together and interact
02:49and it's pure magic. In fact, earlier today some of them were telling us that they have in their
02:5620-year, 21-year career, they have never been in a room, forget a session but in a room with so many
03:03other senior women. That implies network, that implies lessons learned, maybe comparing battle
03:11scars, learning from each other and the other magic we see happen is for some reason
03:18when we bring senior women together, there's instant camaraderie. Shubha, I have a question for you, do
03:24you feel that women are in fact empowered today? Women are empowered at a macro level, as we say
03:31it's happening, there is awareness but practically there's a very long way to go and it still
03:36is working only for a very small fragment of society, it isn't spreading the way we need it to.
03:41Of course, Savita a follow-up question on that, do you feel gender equality exists in the
03:49corporate culture in India today? Idealistically, we would like it to be but that's not what reality
03:54is. We are hoping that with this kind of a program, the women leaders who join us are able to
04:01amplify this effect and bring forth that culture which exudes equality and build it up
04:08and not wait for things to happen but kind of amplify into a level where speed it up.
04:14The event marked a historic moment bringing together more than 150 senior women leaders
04:21on a single platform. This gathering aimed to foster discussions on leadership, empowerment
04:28and the challenges faced by women in various sectors. The conclave also addressed critical
04:34issues such as gender bias, work-life balance and the need for inclusive policies.
04:41These discussions aim to identify practical solutions to create more equitable workplaces.
04:49As a woman in corporate world for the last 25 plus years, I worked in Procter & Gamble for
04:5520 plus years. I relate to the cause and you really want to see how we can help other women
05:02who are coming behind you. The second thing that is really powerful about this program is just the
05:06group that runs it. They're all XLRI alumni. I'm XLRI class of 1995. To connect with other alumni
05:13from different batches, it's really special. Speakers at the event included prominent
05:20figures from various industries who shared their experiences and success stories. Their narratives
05:27served as an inspiration for many attendees highlighting the importance of resilience
05:33and determination. Women leaders who are at their early stage in the career, do you think
05:41it's easy for them or are they facing challenges probably they can't speak about
05:46and how can they deal with that? That's such a fantastic question because you know at the early
05:52stage, if you talk about which is let's say six to ten, eleven years in their career, there are
05:58systemic elements that come in the way but they're also internal because that's the first drop-off
06:03point typically for women. Marriage, childbirth comes in the way and that's when they really have
06:09to start both choosing their priorities and deal with the external pull and push factors that come
06:16in. So while you know organization focus on diversity numbers and there is a sense of equality,
06:25equity for although is a very different ball game. So for women who are starting to then navigate
06:32a different personal journey, personal life at that point of time, the stakes are very different,
06:39the challenges and hurdles are very different at that point of time. So some of them are social
06:45constructs but a lot of it is also mental in terms of their own mindsets, beliefs, expectations
06:51of themselves that have been set for them either by the society. Someone who's so early in their
06:57career, I have learned so much just by seeing how right from how this program is designed and
07:04executed to then going and meeting other you know leaders in the past. Who can say that in the past
07:11two years they've met 300 women leaders from this country and I think that in itself has been
07:18very inspiring and somebody my age or me personally or my friends as women and as girls face
07:24whether it be you know being viewed differently because you're a woman or through a different lens
07:29or whether it be seeing as less than because you're a girl or feeling disrespected in taking up a
07:36leadership role. Even just at my school level taking up a leadership role and you know telling
07:41people what to do even as a girl that gets seen worse off as if you had a boy telling you and
07:48that's today we had Renuka speak, she said the exact same thing right. So whether you're a leader in
07:52a senior position in a company and a CEO it's actually not so different from what we face
07:57at a much younger age and so hearing how these fabulous women who've reached so far in their
08:02career have actually combated issues like this and overcome challenges like this in their own
08:08careers it's not so far off from learnings that I can take into my own life or that people my age
08:13can actually implement in their own life. It's a great opportunity to network and connect with so
08:19many successful women I mean how often do we get to do that really so in that sense it's
08:24it's been a great experience for me so far and I'm looking forward to the rest of the evening.
08:29Sure sure and one quick question that do you believe right now gender equality exists in
08:38Indian corporate industry? Tricky question so I think we're not there yet but we've made
08:44significant progress over the last decade or so if I may say so but I mean we have a long
08:50way to go to be very honest so we may think that you know there is equality and every
08:57person every woman for that matter has a seat at the table but in a lot of organizations that
09:02is not true as far as I know so I've been lucky to be a part of Diageo where
09:06women are completely equal and treated equally with men but I think overall we do have a long way to go.
09:13This landmark event demonstrates Accelerise commitment to fostering an inclusive environment
09:21where women's contributions are valued and celebrated. We started XL4W formally in 2021
09:29which is a group of women alumni who've come together and at the same time we also supported
09:34the formation of CJIL Center for Gender Equality and Inclusive Leadership pioneered by XLRI and
09:41these are the two forces who have come together in order to bring this program and this is just
09:46one step in our effort to ensure gender equality and ensure that there is gender balance in the
09:53world. I think it also initiated because we saw data which said that women were not holding positions
09:59of power, there was rampant gender inequality and especially in the corporate world
10:05we found women at the c-suite, women at senior leadership levels were very few in number
10:11the percentage was less than 10 percent. So this upsurge in a way is our effort to correct that
10:17imbalance to engage enable and empower women to reach for leadership levels so that we can have
10:23a more equitable society. I think this is the right platform for a lot of women to participate
10:30and it gives them a lot more context power and tools to maneuver the whole corporate world
10:35that they are in right now and I think this is no better platform and I've not heard about any
10:40better platform for women till now in my personal experience there, so it's an amazing event.
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