Across India, women like Bandana, Kalpana, and Nirmala are solving some of the most pressing and overlooked issues in their communities. But who is taking care of them?

What does it take to shatter barriers, question the status quo, and inspire a wave of change? For countless women across India running small grassroots organisations, it’s a mix of courage, resilience, and an unshakable urge to address deep-rooted inequities in society.

While progress has been made, gender equality remains elusive. Women, particularly in rural and marginalised communities, continue to face entrenched barriers such as gender-based violence, social exclusion, and limited access to resources. At the current pace, it will take over 131 years to achieve gender parity. But this can change when women begin to lead.

Marriage, separation, and widowhood in rural India

At the grassroots, early marriage, motherhood, widowhood, divorce or separation can be defining milestones for women; stepping away from the norm and reconstructing one’s own identity post widowhood or separation is often an act of bold agency, and is pivotal for women working and enduring at the grassroots, often having to relive personal trauma while supporting other women.

Rebuild is bringing to light how women’s leadership, often born from lived experience of violence, redefines power by focusing on collective contribution, building supportive communities, and dismantling existing structures that perpetuate violence and inequity. We are learning that women’s leadership not only empowers women and girls but also all marginalised groups.

For instance, over the past 10 years, Navchetana Sarvangin Vikas Kendra, led by Manisha Sitaram Ghule, has made a profound impact. Operating in the drought-prone Beed district, the organisation focuses on advocacy for land rights and menstrual health for vulnerable nomadic and de-notified tribes, and Dalit communities.

To date, they have enabled over Rs 100 crore in loans from banks, helping women members build sustainable livelihoods. Their community dairy initiative is enabling enhanced incomes, ending migration for work, and bettering nutritional outcomes for children.

By spotlighting more women problem-solvers and movement builders like Manisha Tai, Rebuild wants to spread awareness about the transformative potential of women’s leadership in remote and very complex regions across India.

These leaders are putting aside their personal grief and challenges while addressing historically overlooked issues........

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