Consul General Ms. Neeta Bhushan Flags off Media Launch of Women's Empowerment Campaign
Chicago IL: Hon'ble Consul General of India, Ms. Neeta Bhushan flagged off media launch of The Women's Empowerment Campaign on December 9th in the presence of a large number of prominent business and community leaders, including bigwigs from the media, at the Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows IL The initiative is the result of collaboration between the Hon. Consul General of India, Ms Nita Bhushan with Rita Singh, Shital Daftari & Dr. Anuja Gupta, The guests enjoyed a high-voltage entertainment program presented by Ameya Dance Academy themed around women's empowerment.
"It was a great idea of the founders to start a women's empowerment group. It was much needed in Chicago and will go a long way in enriching the nature and quality of women contributions to society in multiple ways", said Ms. Neeta Bhushan. "Chicago needed a strong women's group to represent the high level of success our community has seen in business, community service, arts & culture. The Women's Empowerment Group has filled a huge gap and has great potential in Chicago and beyond", she added.
"We wanted to form a group that showcase the power of Indian women in Chicago and to do something to make a positive impact in our community" said the founders, Ms. Rita Singh, Ms.Shital Daftari, and Ms.Dr. Anuja Gupta. "The philosophy behind the launching of the Women's Empowerment Group is to build a powerful community of support for Indian women in Chicagoland through this platform. The group plans to celebrate Women's Day annually as a gala event. The Women's Empowerment Campaign is designed to create the largest networking & empowerment platform for Indian women in Chicagoland", they added unanimously.
"We have reached a point in our lives where we felt blessed by the community support and wanted to do something to give back to the community. The Indian women community has gotten to a level where we want to make a difference by supporting each other and elevating the status of the whole community" said Dr. Anuja Gupta, a physician and real estate developer of Verandah Retirement Community.
"There are many existing women's groups which are independently doing important work. We wanted to form a bigger networking platform to connect the existing groups with everyone who wanted to engage in forming a more powerful community of support" said Ms. Shital Daftari, an e-commerce business owner of Saris and Things had a different perspective.
"We wanted to showcase how powerful Indian women are and to empower them to take the first step to live a life of their dreams and reach their highest potential", said Ms Rita Singh, an IT business owner with rich experience in show business said; "I had a very gratifying experience mentoring other people who wanted to start their own business and wanted to do it on a larger scale through this platform. I wanted to make a meaningful difference in the lives of Indian community. The mission of the group is to create the largest networking and empowerment platform for Indian women in Chicagoland. Together we can have a more unified presence and more powerful voice", she added.
The Leadership Team of the initiative consists of the top community leaders in Chicagoland, with varied experiences, including Ms Uma Katiki, President of the Chicago Andhra Association, Ms Vidya Joshi, Vice-President of Maharashtra Mandal Chicago & Secretary of BMM, Ms Aparna Ayyalaraju & Rajani Akurati, Members of the Board Directors of the Telugu Tristate Association, Ms Chandini Duvuuri, founder of an NGO for battered women, Ms Promila Kumar, founder of Sanjeevani, Ms Rosey Bhasin, founder of Connections By Rosey, Ms Namitha Pai, founder of Happy Feet, Ms Sushma Bhanot, founder of Share A Smile Chicago, Ms Arshia Wajidm, founder of American Muslim Health Professionals, Dr. Manjari Gambhir, Dr. Sonal Gupta & Dr. Preeti Pointdexter, practicing physicians, Dr. Pooja Batra Sharma, a Dentist, Dr. Tanvi Bhatt, Professor in Physical Therapy, Ms Loni Sharma, Financial Advisor, Ms Shree Guruswamy, a social worker, and Ms Ratna Kapur from the United Punjabi Association.
In addition to the leadership team, the group also has community partners which include women who are active in community service, including Ms Bhavana Modi, Ms Farhana Bukhari, Ms Vibha Dave, Ms Nipa Shah, Ms Payal Shah, Ms Prabh Khaira, and Ms Gurpreet Singh.
The Advisory Board members are Dr. Asha Oroskar, founder & CEO of Orochem Labs, Ms Smita Shah, owner of Direct Floors, Ms Anisha Shah, owner of Shree Builders & Arlington Rentals, and Ms Madhoolica, past president of the Indian American Heritage Museum.
The group also has an impressive list of Brand Ambassadors who are popular community members of Chicago, including Ms Prabh Khaira, Dr Preeti Poindexter, Ms Gurpreet Singh, Ms Leena Sampat, Ms Neelu Kingra, Ms Rajeshwari Rawat, Ms Geetanjali Maru, Ms Preeti Miglani, Ms Nehal Mehta, Ms Sylvia Bhugra, Dr Anuja Maini, Ms Anita Saggar, Ms Mamta Pandey, Ms Sonica Singh, Ms Mamta Aggarwal, Ms Bhavna Bahadur, Ms Sujata Oberoi, Ms Roopa Ganga, Ms Radha Sharma, Ms Nidhi Kapoor, Ms Nidhi Pawar, Ms Roshini Sehgal, Ms Vinita Arora, Ms Simmi Malhotra, Ms Shivani Anand, Ms Shivani Kulkarni, Ms Rupa Nath, and Ms Kelly Suga.
The group has had considerable appreciation and welcome from the community so far. Many women have expressed an interest in joining the group. They promoters also received calls from Indian women outside of Chicagoland to join. Women leaders from the Indian community in Florida and New Jersey have expressed an interest in setting up sister organizations in their own towns. More information can be had from the facebook page @ChicagoWEC or the website www.ChicagoWE.com