Meet Madhu Vaishnav - CEO of Saheli Woman NGO

Madhu Vaishnav, CEO of Saheli Woman Madhu is an embodiment of how a whole community benefits when a woman chases her inspiration and lives out her full potential. Like many other women in India, Madhu got married early in her 20s and was forbidden to work outside her house, even with a masters degree. She taught herself English in order to stay involved in her children's education. Eventually, she convinced her family to work as a school teacher.

After four years as a teacher, Madhu joined an American non-profit NGO in India and worked to support the education of sex workers, raise HIV and AIDS awareness, provide skills training and make micro-finance opportunities available. . In 2014, Madhu was inspired to start her own non-profit - the Institute for Philanthropy and Humanitarian Development (IPHD) with the goal of community development through female empowerment - and brought to life her fashion social enterprise, SAHELI (female friend in Hindi).

See our blog post about Saheli Women to learn more about this organization empowering women.