Our Impact

Economic Transformation delivers Social Outcomes

She Leads Bharat is driving multi-dimensional impact. The economic empowerment of women, through income and entrepreneurship is directly yielding positive social outcomes in families ad communities. We work in three core impact areas where this transformation is most evident: Financial Inclusion, Climate/Clean Climate Solutions and Gender Equality.

Women sat in a circle listening intently

A key focus of the She Leads Bharat initiative is financial inclusion—ensuring women and their communities have access to modern financial services.

In 2024, Frontier Markets, in collaboration with Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Airtel Payments Bank, launched She Leads Bharat: Udyam, to connect women entrepreneurs with banking and credit services. In its first phase, 15,000 women micro-entrepreneurs in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh joined the Meri Saheli platform, with 10,000 of them trained as Airtel Payments Bank business correspondents to deliver banking services in underserved areas.

By empowering women as banking agents, the initiative brings essential financial services—such as savings accounts, payments, pensions, and insurance—directly to rural communities through trusted local figures. She Leads Bharat: Udyam is envisioned as a digital-first model that helps women-owned businesses increase income while expanding access to credit and financial tools in rural markets. Already, Sahelis facilitate thousands of digital transactions monthly, enabling rural customers to deposit money, pay bills, or apply for loans without traveling to distant towns.

During 2024–25, we piloted a blended finance model with 360 ONE Foundation to support first-time borrowers. Under this scheme, 2,000 women in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh received zero-interest, zero-collateral loans to expand their businesses. The Meri Saheli App tracks their repayments and transactions, building credit histories for women new to formal banking. Early results demonstrate strong repayment rates and notable business growth.

Through digital finance, accessible credit, and improved financial literacy, She Leads Bharat is creating an inclusive rural economy where women play a central role as empowered change-makers. Women are able to break generational cycles of childhood marriage, exclusion from education, abuse and neglect and instead, are earning an income and building businesses, enabling them to better educate their children, make safer choices for heating and lighting, with access to clean energy solutions, and to invest in their long-term futures.

Across India, rural women entrepreneurs face systemic challenges to economic participation, including limited mobility, lack of digital skills, and restricted access to markets and financial services. Yet, they carry significant potential as digitally enabled change agents. Empowering these women with the right digital tools, training, support and networks transforms them into catalysts for inclusive growth. The She Leads Bharat initiative recognises this potential and builds a scalable model of empowerment.

For generations, women living in last mile communities in India have been subjected to child marriages, leading to years of abuse and neglect and dangerous childbirth during their teenage years. Sent to live with their husband’s family with little knowledge or life experience, many women live lives devoid of hope and happiness. She Leads Bharat is committed to restoring dignity, prosperity and peace to women in these rural communities by recognizing that they are the key to unlocking rural economic potential across India.

Through the AI-powered Meri Saheli App, 36,000 women entrepreneurs have been digitally onboarded and trained, giving them access to a curated suite of services including commerce, financial services, and climate solutions. The initiative, supported by Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and other leading philanthropic donors, has enabled these women to generate over US$100 million in business sales and earn US$10 million in additional income.

This initiative has enabled rural women to step into leadership roles as entrepreneurs, marketeers, and trusted service providers in their last mile underserved communities. By ensuring women are equal participants in the digital economy, gender parity is accelerated. Sahelis have become local influencers and decision-makers, consistently earning 4x their previous income levels. This economic independence translates into enhanced self-agency and increased investment in children's health and education.

This year, we sustained an 80% active rate and 95% retention rate among our Sahelis – an indication that once women start, they tend to stay engaged and continue growing their businesses. Women report greater confidence and respect in their communities as a result of their new role.

Many have become key decision-makers in their households. For example, one entrepreneur shared: “My confidence has increased very much, and people’s respect towards me has improved… I can speak to anyone without fear. Now that I’m earning, why shouldn’t my children go to a better school? I moved them to a private school with my own income.” - use this as testimonial on page.

Such stories are common – women who were once economically dependent are now community leaders and role models. With increased income, they invest in their children’s education, nutrition, and healthcare, creating a generational shift. In short, She Leads Bharat is not just providing jobs to women – it is elevating their status in society. The initiative also partners with NGOs and self-help groups to deliver digital and financial literacy training to women, further building their capabilities and confidence.

She Leads Bharat recognises that placing women at the centre of economic and social transformation has far-reaching impact, across multiple sectors. These numbers demonstrate a proven track record of impact at scale. Behind each statistic are real lives changed – women who have moved from subsistence to entrepreneurship, families enjoying better living standards, and communities adopting sustainable technologies. Our journey, especially the last year has essentially validated and proven our model, showing that empowered rural women can drive development outcomes in a cost-effective, market-based, and scalable way.

Through their financial inclusion and access to employment, education, and everyday goods and services, women in rural India are transforming their lives and the lives of their families and communities.

Woman in yellow dupatta gathering dried crops

Climate change is exacerbating agricultural challenges in India, particularly affecting smallholder farmers and disproportionately impacting women. Projections suggest a 9% drop in crop yields by 2040 and a 20-25% drop in income due to extreme climate events. These issues are compounded for women, who comprise 57% of agricultural labour and 28% of cultivators, yet face limited access to resources, training, and decision-making power. In Rajasthan, an arid state with 62% of land affected by desertification, climate variability and socio-economic inequities put women farmers at high risk.

However, women are also key to sustainable agricultural transformation. They increasingly manage farms due to male outmigration and demonstrate a preference for long-term, eco-friendly practices. Empowering women with tools and resources to adapt can significantly enhance climate resilience and local conservation efforts.

She Leads Bharat launched a unique gender climate initiative named, She Leads Bharat Mahila Kisaan Initiative to unlock access to innovative gender-sensitive climate insurance for 1 million smallholder women farmers, impacting over 5 million vulnerable individuals in 10 states in India. In its Phase I, with the support of Global Parametrics (as part of Natural Disaster Fund) and Humanity Insured, it has protected 15,000 smallholder women farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, indirectly impacting 75,000 vulnerable individuals.

This project presents a scalable, data-driven, and gender-responsive approach to climate adaptation for rural women farmers. By combining digital innovation, community networks, and tailored insurance products, it empowers women as agents of resilience while paving the way for systemic rural insurance adoption.

Our initiative originated in the clean energy sector, so climate impact remains a crucial outcome.

35,000 women digitally trained on climate-smart agriculture
15,000 women farmers protected via gender crop insurance
US$500K+ unlocked for TA, climate insurance subsidies, and bundled services for resilience
1.5M+ smallholder women farmers enabled with climate-resilient agriculture inputs

A significant portion of rural India still depends on high-emission, unsafe energy sources like kerosene, firewood, and diesel. Women bear the brunt of this burden, managing household energy needs with poor health and environmental outcomes. There is a major gap in awareness, affordability, and access to cleaner alternatives. Lack of safe energy solutions has a serious and detrimental effect on everyday life, with kerosene lamps causing disastrous, life-threatening fires.

Our Network of Saheli’s together with the Meri Saheli App serves as a platform to not only educate women on clean energy products, water conservation tools, and climate-resilient agriculture practices, but provides access to these solutions.

Supported by Mastercard, Airtel Payments Bank, and other partners, it leverages trusted Sahelis to drive awareness, demand generation, and usage support through localised campaigns.

We have distributed over 4 million solar solutions (lanterns, home lighting systems, clean cookstoves) to rural households to date, through the Saheli network.

In FY 2024–25, we continued to promote climate-friendly products – from solar agri-equipment to energy-efficient appliances – helping rural communities both save money and live healthier and safer lives.

4 million+ clean energy solutions delivered
1.7 million tons of CO2 emissions avoided
Thousands of rural homes made safer and more sustainable through clean energy access

Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth

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Insurance Product for Women Farmers

Climate change is having an increasingly disastrous impact on smallholder women farmers in India. When crops fail, long lasting ripple effects reverberate throughout these communities.

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