Desi Dhaakad Awards Honour Grassroots Women Leaders in India

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 24 March 2026

• Inaugural Desi Dhaakad Social Impact Awards 2025-26 held in Mumbai
• The event was hosted by Etherwire.AI in association with RB Foundation
• The event has been created to celebrate grassroots women leaders in India

The first ever Desi Dhaakad Social Impact Awards 2025 - 2026 (DDSIA) took place at the NSE Atrium in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Mumbai.

Guide-words are the main organizing body of the DDSIA along with partner organization RB Foundation, and co-hosted by the NSE Social Stock Exchange (NSE SSE). To recognize change and impact on the ground from women leaders all across India.

The event hosted numerous dignitaries from various sectors such as policy makers, institutional leaders, social entrepreneurs, non-profits, and community leaders. The first edition of the awards recognized 20 women who have been a force of change, in 11 different categories.

Major organizations have supported the program, including serum Institute of India, Aditya Birla Group, Duravit, Shoppers Stop, Aspire for Her Foundation, Mentor My Board, Atlas Skilltech University, Indorient Financial Services Limited, Kohinoor Business School, Kohinoor Management School, and others.

Rajyashree Birla was recognized for her work on women-led initiatives in rural India with the DDSIA Social Impact Lifetime Achievement Award 2025-26 while she also received the DDSIA Lifetime Legend Award in Sports 2025-26 due to Diana Edulji’s sports achievements.

Kanchan Puri received the DDSIA Cultural Heritage Preservation Award 2025-26 for her accomplishments related to preserving heritage sites and promoting architectural and cultural legacies; and Ms. Rouble Nagi received the DDSIA Social Upliftment & Inclusive Education Award 2025-26 for her efforts using art and creativity to connect with society.

The award ceremony began with a keynote from Harish Ahuja discussing the development of the social impact ecosystem in India, followed by Mukund Rajan leading a fireside chat which addressed the barriers of access and positioning for early-stage impact-focused enterprises’ ESG capital.

A major part of this evening was the launch of Shakti Credits 2047, an initiative based on research and focused on India’s Gender Carbon Dividend and Viksit Bharat 2047.

The initiative is spearheaded by Sarita Bahl and Rajiv Indimath, with academic support provided by Kohinoor Business School. The initiative seeks to understand the role of community participation in climate action at the household and community levels, with a focus on women in climate action.

The event was concluded with a cultural event to mark the first musical release by Etherwire.AI, “Navdurgas™ - Song of Shakti,” performed by Nityarupam from Varanasi. The event was based on themes around women’s empowerment and strength, in line with the overall objectives.