Mumbai, 27 sept 2021: WISE wins the prestigious Diversity and Inclusion(D&I) Pioneering Initiative Award at the 3rd D&I Summit and Awards 2021, for empowering women and transgenders in the pandemic times through sustained health and livelihood initiatives. Some of the most noteworthy initiatives by WISE in recent months include a vaccination drive exclusively for trans persons in Mumbai for whom access and affordability are a problem, a partnership with the Thane Badminton Association to train and create future badminton champions out of 14 talented girls from rural Maharashtra, and the upskilling of young women entrepreneurs.

The coronavirus vaccination drive for Mumbai’s transgender population saw 450 trans persons vaccinated across two drives, a first for this often-overlooked cohort. Apart from receiving the vaccinations, they were also given a month’s supply of rations.

Going forward, WISE, as a new-age trust, seeks to enable curious, bright youth in every corner of India to make future-focused, sustainable professional choices across business, entrepreneurship, planning, development, culture, sports, and anything else that captures their imagination.

On receiving the award Mr. Kaustubh Sonalkar, Principal Co-founder, WISE said “I would like to thank the jury members and organizers for honoring us with the prestigious award. We at WISE are working on initiatives that have sustainability at the core. This award goes a long way in validating our efforts, and we hope that the recognition will help garner support and participation for WISE, from many others. WISE believes that everyone, particularly in institutions spanning across schools, colleges and workplaces, needs to be sensitized and prepared to welcome transpersons and ensure that they are not discriminated against. Gender issues, sustainability and livelihood will continue to be our areas of focus. Thank you once again for recognizing our efforts.” Priya Chakravarty, Senior Advisor – WISE, added “WISE has been built on the merit-over-gender principle, and our efforts in empowering talented, young trans people and women have just received a huge shot in the arm with this D&I Pioneering Initiative Award. With the support of like-minded peers and our passionate team, we at WISE will implement programs around menstrual hygiene, health, education and livelihood in the near future. Creating champions of talented youth through initiatives around sports, culture, education and skill will remain our core objective. We’re grateful and humbled by the recognition in the early days of WISE.” About WISE: WISE (Woman of India Sustainable Empowerment) is a new age trust that has set out at a time of turmoil, to try and make the world a little better. WISE seeks to be a platform that understands, trains, and nurtures young women and trans people, who are on the brink of making critical career choices. The platform will enable curious, bright youth in every corner of India to make future-focused, sustainable professional choices across the business, entrepreneurship, planning, development, culture, sports and anything else that captures their imagination. It will also be the endeavor of WISE to focus on women’s menstrual health, so that they can better manage this critical aspect while pursuing their professional goals. PWR PWR

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