SHE LEADS STRENGTHENING WOMEN'S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN INDIA Report of the training of the first cohort (February - March, 2021) Implementing partners Supported by Chevening Alumni Project Fund Year of Publication- 2021 She Leads training programme, Feb-March’2021 Implemented by- Stree Shakti-The Parallel Force in collaboration with Indian School of Democracy, Shakti and NETRI. Supported by Chevening Alumni Project Fund (CAPF) Designed by: Impression Communications SHE LEAD ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS She Leads was made possible with the I am thankful to Ms. Savita Sethi for support of Foreign, Commonwealth and coordinating and curating the training Development offi ce (FCDO) through the programme, and anchoring it from start to Chevening Alumni Project Fund (CAPF). end and taking care of minutest details. I would like to place on record my most Ms. Devika Kapur and Ms. Shreaya Kataria sincere thanks to British High Commission, deserve a special mention for helping with India for facilitation and guidance throughout research and documentation. the project implementation period. My most sincere appreciation for Ms. Supriya Ms. Rekha Mody, Founder, Stree Shakti- Chawla, Mr. Rajul Dube and Ms. Babita The Parallel Force needs special mention Sharma from British High Commission, as a mentor, guide and a force behind India for their continued support and the initiative. She not only offered to host encouragement in undertaking this project. and launch the programme as the lead Last but not the least, I am grateful to my implementation partner but has also put in Chevening Alumni Community for their her own resources to take the idea forward. guidance and support in reaching out to the The capacity building programme would applicants. not have been possible without the partner organizations; Indian School of Democracy The training of fi rst cohort has been a for co-creating the course content and rewarding and gratifying experience and has delivering it in the most amazing manner. inspired me to dream big to do my bit in Shakti and NETRI did a fantastic job in supporting more women to become political supporting mobilization, helping with resource leaders. persons, and taking working sessions. I am grateful to Mr. Shabd Mishra, Chevening Gurukul Fellow, for all the technical guidance and support in undertaking this online programme. Kanta Singh I have no words to convey my gratitude to all Chevening Gurukul Fellow the eminent political leaders and experts who believed in this initiative, came onboard and shared their valuable experiences. Heartfelt thanks to all the participants of the fi rst cohort, whom I would like to address as She Leaders, for trusting us and joining the training course. SHE iii LEAD ACRONYMS AAP Aam Aadmi Party CAPF Chevening Alumni Project Fund CEO Chief Executive Offi cer FCDO Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Offi ce IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union ISD Indian School of Democracy MLA Member of Legislative Assembly MP Member of Parliament SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation WRB Women’s Reservation Bill SHE LEAD iv CONTENTS Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. iii Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................ iv Chapter 1 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................1 Context ................................................................................................................................................1 About the programme ........................................................................................................................2 Chapter 2 Training of the fi rst cohort of She Leads .............................................................................3 Selection process ...............................................................................................................................3 Profi les of selected participants ..........................................................................................................4 Training Format ...................................................................................................................................5 Chapter 3 Day 1, Introduction .............................................................................................................7 Icebreaker and participant introduction ..............................................................................................8 Programme brief, Norms & Zoom set up ............................................................................................8 Why are we here? ................................................................................................................................9 Chapter 4 Day 2, Politics and Power .................................................................................................11 Session 1 -Women in politics – trends and challenges......................................................................11 Expert talk - Pathways of women: Journeys and motivation with Ms. Margaret Alva .......................12 Session 2 - Mapping Power Structures in Indian Democracy ............................................................13 Chapter 5 Day 3, Identities and Leadership ......................................................................................15 Session- Identities and biases within and around me ......................................................................15 Expert talk-1 Identity politics and Trends of the future with Dr. Heena Gavit ..................................16 Expert talk – 2 Leadership Talk with Mr. Ghanshyam Tiwari .............................................................17 SHE v LEAD Chapter 6 Day 4, Constituency Management ...................................................................................19 Session 1 – Understanding and cultivating your constituency ..........................................................19 Expert Talk - ‘Exploring policies around health and livelihood of women’ with Mr. M.V. Rajeev Gowda .....................................................................................................................21 Session 2 – Public Narrative I –Story of Self ......................................................................................22 Chapter 7 Day 5 – Media & Communications ...................................................................................25 Session 1- Public Narrative II, Story of Us/Now (Marshall Ganz Framework) ....................................25 Expert Talk -1 Political Communication with Ms. Tara Krishnaswamy .............................................26 Panel discussion on ‘Media and Politics’ with Ms. Namita Bhandare and Ms. Shazia Ilmi ................28 Chapter 8 Day 6, Campaign tool and Strategy ................................................................................31 Session -1 Using Behavioral Sciences in campaigning .....................................................................31 Session -2, Building effective strategies and campaigns ..................................................................32 Expert Talk- Building effective political campaigns, with Ms. Archana Chitnis and Ms. Bandana Kumari .........................................................................................................................33 Chapter 9 Day 7- Resource Management .........................................................................................35 Session- Fundraising for political campaigns ....................................................................................35 Expert Talk - ‘Political Fundraising, avenues & strategies’ with Mr. Prithvi Reddy .............................35 Concluding session ...........................................................................................................................37 Chapter 10 Certifi cate Distribution Ceremony .................................................................................39 Annexure-1 Media coverage .............................................................................................................41 Annexure-2 Testimonials ...................................................................................................................43 Annexure-3 Agenda ..........................................................................................................................45 Annexure-4 List of selected participants ...........................................................................................47 SHE LEAD vi Chapter 1 BACKGROUND Enhancing women’s political leadership is Context essential to building a strong democracy and ensuring India’s position as a global Some countries are leading the path towards leader of the 21st century. Several studies a higher number of women in Parliament. show that increasing the level of women’s According to data published by the Inter- political participation and representation helps Parliamentary Union (IPU), India is at the 148th boost the socio-economic development of a position among 193 countries ranked on the country, as women are more likely to advocate basis of the percentage of women members in for policies and reforms that positively National Parliament. Among SAARC nations, impact the human development indices of India