Women’s Capital Is Their Courage, Says World Economic Forum’s Co-Chair
Chetna Sinha aims to engage and partner with top investors and leaders to invest in empowering women.
This year’s World Economic Forum is being co-chaired by seven women, a first in the event’s history. Among them is the founder of India’s first bank to give small loans to rural women.
The bank is now looking for investments based on the courage of the women it serves as capital. “We want to appeal to investors to invest in these women, to invite, to engage and partner with them,” Chetna Sinha, founder of the Mann Deshi Foundation told BloombergQuint’s Menaka Doshi on the sidelines of the WEF at Davos, Switzerland.
Talking about her journey as the founder of a rural microfinance lender, Sinha said that she has worked with women who consider courage as their real capital, and are passionate about becoming entrepreneurs. As co-chair at the WEF, she attemps to bring the “fractured voices” of rural women to the fore, she added.
Sinha founded the bank to enable women in rural Maharashtra to keep their hard earned savings. Over time, the lender evolved into a business school, teaching women how to become entrepreneurs. It also provides tutelage and banking services to women on wheels.
Commenting on her experience at the forum so far, Sinha said that it is interesting to see women from all walks of life, holding different leadership positions across globe, come together and engage in dialogue for a better world.
Watch the full conversation here: