New Delhi: Dr Ruha Shadab, 30, who had founded LedBy Foundation, India’s only leadership incubator to empower Muslim women, is running an intensive co-curricular Summer Fellowship Program for college-going students.
The program not only provides them access to industry experts and mentors but also gives them training.
It was 2019 when Ruha Shadab had launched the LedBy Foundation at Harvard University.
Background of Ruha Shadab
After completing medical degree, Ruha Shadab had worked at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Later, she worked with NITI Ayog before going to Harvard to pursue her higher education.
After experiencing a lack of Muslim women participating in the mainstream, she decided to bring the change.
“It was tiring, after a point of time to be the only Muslim woman in school, college, workplace. There was no one who shared a similar background as me whom I could look up to and aspire to be and that is what I wanted to change,” she told the Better India.
How LedBy helps Muslim women?
Dr Ruha believes that Muslim women lack 3 A’s i.e., agency, access, and avenues. According to her, LedBy tries to address them.
It provides leadership workshops, advisory framework and executive coaching to high potential college-going Indian Muslim women.
Under the summer program that runs for four months, 24 women who get selected based on merit receive coaching.
In order to attend the session which is virtual the women need to be Indian and Muslim. They must be in the third or fourth year of the four-year program. If the Indian women have enrolled in the three-year program, they must be either in the second or third year.