About Us
About Us
Who We Are
The AWE India Network is a collaborative platform dedicated to Advancing Women Enterprises, across the country and was launched on 14 March 2024 in New Delhi. Inspired by the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision for women as equal partners in a self-reliant India, the network aims to create a supportive ecosystem that brings together diverse stakeholders to foster the growth and success of women-led businesses. The network intends to engage with concerned ecosystem stakeholders to strengthen the enabling environment by facilitating and fostering collaboration, mentorship, and access to resources, to help the advancement of women enterprises. The “AWE”SOME Vision of the network is to reach out to 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2030.
In a short span of time, the network has grown to 80+ member organizations, bringing together CSOs, domain experts, and grassroots voices committed to strengthening the ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. Over the past year, four convenings have been held, engaging more than 400 stakeholders from diverse sector represented by civil society organisations, the private sector, financial institutions, and policymakers, positioning AWE as a catalyst for inclusive entrepreneurial transformation.
Objectives of the AWE India Network
Knowledge Sharing
Build a dynamic platform for collaboration and exchange among women entrepreneurs, CSOs, and partners.
Institutional Product Creation
Develop and share research papers, policy briefs, and innovative knowledge products for women entrepreneurs.
Capacity Building and Mentorship
Facilitate access to markets, mentorship, and enterprise development opportunities.
Policy Support and Implementation
Convene national and state-level forums to advocate for gender-responsive entrepreneurship policies.
Thematic Working Group (TWG)
Thematic Working Groups are constituted based on identified priorities and the voluntary engagement of experts from across the ecosystem. These groups operate within defined timelines to deliver measurable outcomes and adopt an intersectional and cross-cutting approach that aligns with broader strategic goals. TWGs serve as the action-oriented arms of the AWE India Network, fostering strategic collaborations and ensuring sustained impact in key areas of women’s economic empowerment.
Network has adopted a thematic working group (TWG) structure to drive focused, collaborative, and strategic action across key pillars that impact women’s economic empowerment. The network operates through four Thematic Working Groups (TWGs):
- Access to Finance
- Access to Market
- Capacity Building, Skilling and Mentoring
- Policy Support
By prioritizing Access to Finance, Access to Market, Capacity Building, Skilling & Mentorship, and Policy Advocacy, the network aims to address systemic barriers and create an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs across India. Each thematic area complements the others—financial inclusion fuels market participation, while capacity building empowers entrepreneurs to leverage finance and market opportunities. Informed policy advocacy integrates these insights to drive systemic change. Each TWG facilitates dialogue, identifies gaps, and develops collaborative actions to strengthen the women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The AWE India Network focuses on addressing structural barriers and building an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs. Its scope includes:
- Addressing women entrepreneurs’ challenges in finance, markets, and networks.
- Developing shared definitions and understanding of Indian women entrepreneurs.
- Championing gender-intentional policies and programmes.
- Identifying gaps in gender-disaggregated data.
- Raising awareness to transform restrictive social norms.
- Collating information on relevant financial products, policies, and programmes.
- Focusing on sectors with high female participation and growth potential.
- Executing evidence-based campaigns on access to finance, market barriers, and discriminatory regulations.
- Co-creating knowledge products – studies, reports, policy briefs.
- Promoting capacity building and knowledge exchange among members.