CNBC-TV18 launches its 'Future Female Forward – A Women's Collective' initiative

CNBC-TV18’s ‘Future Female Forward - A Women’s Collective’, presented by HSBC India, an initiative the brand has kickstarted with the intention to chart a path towards achieving gender parity in the workforce, was launched recently.

The initiative was launched with an on-ground event, held at the St. Regis Mumbai, Lower Parel, Mumbai on November 25, 2022.

As part of the launch, the essence of this initiative has been captured through a special anthem exclusively composed by musician Sonam Kalra. Through its theme and words, “This is My Time to Shine”, the anthem celebrates the never dying spirit of a women and how she faces any and all challenges thrown at her with grace. The anthem was introduced to the audience and performed by flow artist and dancer Eshna Kutty at the launch event.

The event comprised of three insightful plenary sessions with business leaders and super achievers from different walks of life discussing the challenges women continue to face, while striving to make their mark in the Indian corporate space.

The first discussion titled ‘The Leaders Forum – Playing for Parity’ was moderated by Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18 with speakers such as Anish Shah, Managing Director and CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra; Prabha Narasimhan, Managing Director, Colgate-Palmolive India; Hitendra Dave, CEO, HSBC India; Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals; Manish Shah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Godrej Capitals; N Venkatram, Managing Partner and CEO, Deloitte India; and Ritva Koukku-Ronde, Ambassador of Finland to India.

The discussions covered a plethora of pertinent issues, ranging from post-maternity mentorship to equal representation at workplace with more women holding leadership positions in a brand.

Commenting on gender representation in academics, Hitendra Dave, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC India, said, “When you see engineering colleges and MBA institutes 5-10 years from now, you will see diversity and inclusivity improve. There is clear evidence that companies with diversified pools of talent in the form of gender and ethnicity get far better quality of work in their systems. Frankly, any business that cares about its longevity and growth will want to emphasise on diversity for its own interest as well. From HSBC’s perspective, we want to focus on doing a much better job, serve our internal and external stakeholders better, which according to us is only possible with more women representation. We need organisations to showcase women role models more actively.”

N Venkatram, Managing Partner and CEO, Deloitte India added his point of view to the insight, and said “Our findings in the 2022 Women@Work report suggest that if the organisation respects the entire workforce, the results are far better. Women belonging to happier organisations claim that they are willing to stay in one organisation for 5 years, which is huge in the corporate space.”

The second session, ‘Founders Forum – The Start-Up Playbook’, was moderated by CNBC-TV18’s Ritu Singh and had Sushma Kaushik, Partner, Aavishkaar Capital; Suman Gopalan, Chief HR Officer, Freshworks; Madhu Shalini Iyer, Partner, Rocketship.vc; Akanksha Hazari, Founder and CEO, LoveLocal; and Seema Chaturvedi, Founder and Managing Partner, Achieving Women Equity Funds, as panellists.

Commenting on fund management by women-led start-ups, Akanksha Hazari said, “Today, less than 1% of VC funding goes to women-led start-ups in India. Pre-pandemic, the global investment was 2.5% but that got down to 2.3% now. We don’t have many women investors on the other side of the table. The journey has been tough but with more international investors entering the market, capital inflow has been better.” The discussion ranged from the current status of women representation in the VC funding space to how the Indian-start up ecosystem is helping drive progress in this space.

During the event, Shyamala Gopinath, Former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, along with Hitendra Dave and N Venkatram felicitated ISRO scientists Rashmi Sharma, Ritu Karidhal, and N. Aparna for their efforts during the Chandrayan mission and India’s continuing dominance in the space race. 

Karidhal also shared how there were an equal number of women scientists who played a key role in the mission and how ISRO has provided a safe and secure environment that has helped women progress and achieve history.

This was followed by the third and final panel session titled ‘She-conomy - The Digital Dividend’ moderated by CNBC-TV18’s Mangalam Maloo. The panellists were Niharika NM, Global digital content creator; author Anita Bhogle; Gauri Shinde, Film Director and Screenwriter; Naiyya Saggi, Co-Founder, The Good Glamm Group; and Ananya Birla, Singer, Songwriter and Entrepreneur and the discussion threw light on how there are plethora of opportunities and doors that have opened up for women across all sectors, thanks to the digital boom.

“The whole matter of ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ is fast changing. When amazing women come together in a powerful community and hold conversations such as this, great collaborations happen,” said Naiyya Saggi.

Shereen Bhan, Managing Editor, CNBC-TV18, said, “We couldn’t have asked for a better launch for the campaign. Key stakeholders shared their diagnosis of what holds women back from participating in the economy and more importantly presented solutions that have worked and been replicated. From Policymaker, CEOs, Founders, Investors and Creators, Future. Female. Forward, is the platform to drive meaningful conversations & draw up a charter for change. We intend to take this campaign nationwide and involve key international leaders too.”

Taking the thought further, Smriti Mehra, CEO – Business News, Network18, added, “CNBC-TV18 has always been purpose driven business news brand in India; not just creating an equity revolution but also give a voice to subjects that matter and can make a difference to the society at large. With Future. Female. Forward – The Women’s Collective, we have taken impactful steps to drive gender parity and creating relevant conversations and spark the right interests which would eventually lead to a long-term reform in how women are perceived in corporate. We are glad that this initiative is becoming a platform for various powerful voices in the country, to come and advocate for the cause, leading to long-terms ripples in the industry.”

The evening was concluded with various influential voices in the industry and beyond come together and conclude that it is indeed very important to create an equitable work environment for active participation of the workforce.

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