WER Weekly Wrap: Leadership Movements, Shifting Dynamics & Impact

By: WE staff | Saturday, 9 May 2026

Women’s influence across India’s growth story is no longer emerging quietly—it is steadily becoming visible across policy tables, boardrooms, global platforms, and competitive arenas, reshaping how progress is defined and delivered.

This week brings together key signals of that shift. Policy discussions centered on increasing women's representation in decision-making bodies and assessing India's role in BRICS. IBSA emphasized women-led development, women entrepreneurship and women inclusion as essential areas for international collaboration. Increased participation in small and unincorporated businesses shows that people especially in rural and semi-urban areas achieve greater financial independence.

Leadership movements across banking, technology, and corporate sectors underline growing confidence in women professionals to steer transformation and scale organisations in dynamic markets. Alongside this, entrepreneurship and livelihood initiatives continue to widen access to digital tools, markets, and sustainable income opportunities.

Sporting achievements further strengthened this narrative, reflecting India’s expanding presence of women in high-performance arenas.

WER this week captures these developments, reflecting a clear shift—where women are not just part of India’s growth journey, but increasingly helping define its direction.

Policy Matters: BRICS Women’s Working Group Advances Inclusion Agenda

India, as Chair of the BRICS, highlighted the importance of women in economic development and governance through the BRICS Women’s Working Group Virtual Meeting held as a preparatory conference for the BRICS Meet. The Meet was conducted under the Ministry of Women and Child Development and focused on enhancing women empowerment, inclusion in finance and digitization, entrepreneurship, and participation in initiatives dealing with climate change and food security.

The discussions centered on the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” with aims to have measurable outcomes for future ministerial engagements. The meeting was attended by delegates from the countries of the BRICS group, UN Women and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Global Affairs: India Expands Strategic Ties with Vietnam & IBSA Cooperation

Droupadi Murmu congratulated To Lam on his election as State President of Vietnam and reiterated India's robust ties with Vietnam. They decided to increase cooperation between each other in terms of their Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on defense, trade, artificial intelligence, IT, renewable energy and 6G technologies. Moreover, both leaders exchanged their thoughts about regional peace and maritime security as well as cooperation within many organizations including the UN and ASEAN. President Droupadi was also invited to visit Vietnam.

In the 70th Session of UN Commission on the Status of Women, held in New York, the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) Fund was referred by Savitri Thakur, a minister from the Indian Mission to the United Nations. This fund was established in 2004 and is responsible for financing more than 50 projects in 40 countries that aim at addressing issues relating to women empowerment and poverty alleviation. Savitri also pointed to projects undertaken in Liberia and Jordan related to Women's Leadership and Governance, Floriculture and Micro Business Development and reiterated increased cooperation in the context of G20 and BRICS.

Social Impact: SC WIN Expansion, Women Enterprises & Maritime Growth Surge

Standard Chartered and LIFTWOMEN® have expanded the SC WIN Programme to India and the Greater Bay Area, following success in Hong Kong. The 2026 SC WIN Now & Next Programme will enable women entrepreneurs to access funding, build their skills and knowledge, access to pitch opportunities and cross-border connectivity. As women-led businesses are gaining momentum in India and the world market, applications are open till 12th June 2026.

The government’s latest survey revealed that 27% Unincorporated Firms in India were women-led in 2025, compared to 26% in 2024. Much of this growth has come  from the rural areas of India, and women-led businesses were growing in the manufacturing, trade and services sectors. It also pointed towards greater female workforce participation, over 74 lakh jobs were created in the sector and the formal institutional loans increased in the sector.

Women’s role in India’s maritime industry has increased by 340% from 2020 onwards, according to Sarbananda Sonowal. At the 10th Indian Ocean Dialogue, Sarbananda highlighted several initiatives such as “Sagar Mein Samman,” which aims to foster inclusivity and leadership among women in the maritime industry.

US-based pharma major MSD announced it has roped in Bollywood actor Madhuri Dixit, for its country-wide cervical cancer awareness program in India.

Further, Shell Foundation’s Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) and Amazon Saheli introduced a partnership program to boost low income women entrepreneurs by providing digital training, clean energy technologies and better market access for sustainable entrepreneurship development.

Top Appointments: Cross-Sector Women Leaders Rise Globally

Rimjhim Chhabra has become the Chief General Manager of State Bank of India, making a significant leadership milestone in her 32- year banking career. Her diverse portfolio spans from branch management to HR, human resources and international banking, to real estate operations, where she has served in multiple pivotal roles, such as assignments to SBI's Los Angeles branch to support operational excellence and strategic expansion.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has reportedly picked her niece Claire Mazumdar for the role of Successor at Biocon, following the trend of major women leadership positions. Currently Claire is the CEO of Bicara Therapeutics, a biotech company based in the USA. Claire has a background in academic research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University and is anticipated to assume a greater leadership role as Biocon continues its next stage of international expansion in the biotech and biosimilar sector.

In the banking industry, Shanu Singh has been appointed as Marketing Head for Wealth and Retail Banking India in Standard Chartered Bank. N her new role, she'll be in charge of integrated marketing, business growth and customer engagement strategies. With a rich background in various leadership positions at Standard Chartered, ASK Asset & Wealth Management, and Kotak Mahindra Bank, Singh has, product marketing, and customer relationship management. strong experience in brand communication

 In recent global leadership transitions, Omnicom Names Christine Gambino as its new CEO. Previously serving as COO, she led operations across product development and technology teams. Gambino succeeds Duncan Painter and will focus on expanding Omni’s integrated media and technology capabilities across the organization.

Strengthening the APAC expansion strategy, Priya Bhatia has been appointed Chief Revenue Officer at BidVid and joined the company’s founding team. With over 15 years of experience in programmatic advertising and digital revenue growth, Bhatia will lead regional revenue strategy, partnerships, and market expansion as BidVid scales its AI-driven advertising optimisation platform globally.

Aarthi Gunnan Rajkumar has been appointed GE Appliances’s Director of HR Client Support. As part of her new assignment, she will oversee employee experience, organizational growth and HR strategy integration – a discipline that will draw on her extensive experience in global talent management, leadership development and workforce transformation.

Rituparna Sengupta has joined Wow! Momo as the Corporate HR Manager and the Talent Head of Pan India of the Company. With a wealth of experience in talent acquisition, employer branding, and workforce development across the country, she will assume leadership of all such initiatives at Anmol Industries.

Startup Spotlight: Kisah Raises ₹35.9 Crore Series a Funding

Kisah has raised 35.9 Cr funding in Series a round, led by Fireside Ventures, valuing the ethnic wear brand at ₹211 crore post-money. Founded in 2018 by Yash Sarawagi and Yashwi Ladasaria, the company caters to Gen Z and millennial consumers with contemporary ethnic wear.

In FY25, the brand's revenue increased by 65% year-on-year to ₹41.8 crore and profit stood at ₹2 crore, double the previous year's level.

Pronto has raised an additional $20 million in funding from investor Lachy Groom, extending its Series B round to $45 million and pushing the company’s valuation to $200 million — nearly double its valuation from about a month ago.

Sports Central: Anushka Sharma Leads India-A team, Shooting & Multi-Sport Success

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has selected Anushka Sharma as Captain for India-A team in the upcoming three-match T20 series against England-A. The games will take place at Northampton on the 20th, Chelmsford on the 23rd and Northampton on the 25th June. She is rising to prominence due to her decent domestic form and reputation as a reliable all-rounder.

In parallel, Harleen Deol will lead the ODI squad while Pratika Rawal serves as vice-captain. Vrinda Dinesh will assist Sharma in the T20 setup. The series is seen as a key preparation platform ahead of major international tournaments and selection considerations for India’s senior team.

Women Achievers: Kerala Politics, Social Impact & Sporting Excellence

A significant change in representation has been witnessed as 11 candidates from the women's segment won seats in the legislature of Kerala. Key winners are Usha Vijayan, Vidya Balakrishnan and Fathima Tahaliya, who have won against existing ministers, and Geetha Gopi who won for a third term. Women's participation in the Kerala Assembly is less than 10% despite their good performance and the demand for 33% reservation for them has been pending for a long time. The gender parity for candidates on most parties' lists on alliances remains low.

As Odisha continues to make strides in the social impact and education sector, the IIMCAA Odisha chapter bestowed the Public Service Award on ‘Pad Woman’ Ankita Sahoo for her efforts in creating awareness about menstrual health. They also recognized good alumni connections with other people like Manaswini Mishra and Biswajit Sahoo while the alumni meet in Bhubaneswar. Ankita highlighted the need to include men in the discourse on menstruation and de-stigmatize it.

When it comes to sports, Anjali Shekhawat performed outstandingly to win the gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol shooting at the 24th Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship held in New Delhi. She managed to score 240.5 in the finals, better than the silver-medal holder Kanak Budhwar and bronze-medal holder Agam Ranjit Kaur Grewal. Haryana dominated many other events and competitions at the tournament.