Four out of ten women lost jobs in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an attempt to combat these devastations, Women in Cloud launched the #empowHERfamily initiative in August 2021. The goal of this cross-sector economic relief initiative is to empower 1 million women in India to have an effective future through the curation of actionable digital solutions that provide economic relief. 

The digital skilling portion of this campaign offered Azure Training and Certification Scholarships to women in India—which was made possible by our partnerships with Microsoft, Coursera, RV College of Engineering and IAMCP. 

In November 2021, Women in Cloud launched the community fundraising portion of the #empowHERfamily campaign. Through partnerships with Indiaspora and Give India, Women In Cloud set the goal of raising $1M for 2,500 Indian women who lost the primary bread-winner of their families to COVID-19. 

Women In Cloud, Give India, and Indiaspora are ecstatic to announce that almost $60,000 were raised to support the impacted women. The funds raised from the community fundraising campaign will be distributed as a 1-time bank transfer of $400 (INR 30,000). This will aid urban families with monthly expenses for two months and rural families for three months. 

This momentous feat could not have been achieved without our incredible community—so, thank you! Together, the lives of thousands of women and children will be transformed for the better. 

If you would like to be a part of the #empowHERfamily initiative, consider becoming a volunteer, donating to the community fundraising campaign, amplifying the voices of the affected women by becoming a social media ambassador, nominating an NGO/non-profit to get access to digital solutions, or simply learning more

Every action—regardless of its size—has immense impacts.