Champion Woman initiative empowers women to be productive in workforce

CHENNAI: Champion Woman is a movement initiated by the Global Adjustments Foundation. Through life-coaching workshops, the foundation aims to instil self-esteem and goal-setting abilities in schoolgirls, provide young women in colleges with the freedom to design their futures according to their potential, and teach women in the workforce the art of achieving work-life balance. Ranjini Manian, chair and vision holder of Global Adjustments Foundation, leads this initiative.

“The idea of Champion Woman was born eight years ago to help women achieve professional success, personal happiness, and overall well-being. We are a not-for-profit organisation that provides free life coaching with the larger aim of nation-building. Our vision is to empower women to be balanced, confident, and productive in the workforce,” says Ranjini Manian. The team has already positively impacted the lives of 5,00,000 women and girls, intending to reach one million by 2025.

Ranjini, also a dedicated philanthropist, emphasises, “We address topics that are often overlooked in colleges, homes, and workplaces but are crucial for women to cultivate emotional strength, resilience, self-development, and the ability to seek necessary support to progress. Our carefully curated curriculum reflects these needs over time, and its impact resonates deeply with both educators and students.”

Additionally, the team has extended its outreach to include army wives, soldiers, corporate professionals, nurses, women police officers, and various other groups.

“To further our goal, we have launched the founding members of the Champion Women Circle on March 23. The Champion Women Founding Circle comprises 23 exceptional women who have served as role models, inspiring self-belief in themselves and others. At the launch event, each woman shared her aspirations and contributed a practical action item. These 23 individuals now form the core of the movement, ready to leverage their resources, networks, and expertise to drive change and serve as role models, shaping the future path of the Champion Women movement,” shares Ranjini.

G Usha Chandrayaan, a scientist from ISRO launched the Championwoman Circle along with 22 women as founding members. Speaking about the next step, Ranjini adds, “After the brainstorming during the launch, we’ve identified action points to expand learning and maintain a growth mindset. For example, educationists like Dr Mariazeena Johnson, Chancellor of Sathyabama University and Lalitha Balakrishnan, principal of MOP Vaishnav College for Women, stress the importance of education for girls. How do we cultivate a growth mindset and make girls comfortable learning new things? Let’s avoid telling women they’re not good at certain subjects like tech or math. Instead, let’s encourage them to push themselves beyond their perceived limits.”

The members present in the hybrid launch included actor Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Kirthiga Reddy, founder of Virtualness, Roopa Arun, VP of Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) for the South West command, Veena Kumaravel, founder MD, Naturals Salon, educationist Dr Lalitha Balakrishnan, Geetha Nagu, MD VNCT Global, Sushma Arvind, director CRN Architects, diabetologist research Chief Dr Anjana, DR Mohan’s Diabetes Specialty Centre, Dr Mariazeena Johnson, chancellor, Sathyabama University, Giovanna Vivoli, brand strategy head, MOI Global Singapore, Kalpana Shankar, managing trustee, Hand in Hand, Dr Valli Arunachalam, semiconductor technology expert, USA, Jayashree Sundaresan, Tech Leader, Freshworks, Sweta Garapati, Business owner, Old Madras Baking Company, Latha Nair, former HR head, DuPont. Kamini Ramani, CMO of Mayfield Venture Capital, Silicon Valley, and Joanne Huskey, author leadership coach, Mythili Sankaran CEO Neythri.org, USA. Check the Instagram page @championawoman or the website championwoman.org to learn more about their works.