IIM Ahmedabad Hosts One-of-its-kind Leadership Training for Visually Impaired Professional Women

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New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Management, IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA), a renowned international management institute, has launched something that might be described as a groundbreaking endeavour. The institute has organised a one-of-its-kind leadership programme for visually challenged professional women.

The project, which was developed by Professor Rajesh Chandwani, an IIMA faculty member and the Dr. Lal PathLabs Chair in Healthcare at IIMA, intends to provide participants with the information and abilities that would prepare them for leadership positions.

A total of 11 more professors from IIMA and the Blind People's Association (BPA) having expertise in various academic fields have come together to lead workshops for the participants on a variety of topics.

The Lal PathLabs Foundation and the IIMA Endowment Fund collaborated to fund the programme as it evolved. Through its CSR, skill-building, and awareness-raising initiatives, Lal PathLabs Foundation has put a strong emphasis on social development.

With the setting up of Dr Lal PathLabs Chair in Healthcare, the pioneer in the diagnostic industry intends to complement the existing research of the institute that is being done by its faculty members in the healthcare and allied sectors.

IIMA Director Professor Bharat Bhasker, Dr. Om Manchanda, Dr. Lal PathLabs' Managing Director Mr. Bhushan Punani, BPA General Secretary Mr. Tarun Vashishth, an IIMA PhD student, Ms. Chhavi Moodgal, IIMA Endowment Fund CEO, and Professor Rajesh Chandwani, Faculty Chair, Programme on Leadership and Strategic Thinking for Social Sector, along with other faculty members were present for the program's opening session.

Speaking during the opening session of the unique training programme, IIMA Director Professor Bharat Bhasker said that the institute has taken an excellent lead in tackling social concerns, particularly around inclusivity and disabilities.

With the help of this initiative, the IIMA aims to make critical progress towards understanding and easing the difficulties experienced by visually impaired women who desire to hold leadership roles, a group that is notably underrepresented.

Overall, this project exemplifies IIMA's progressive vision, and certainty that it will greatly assist the IIMA faculty in making a substantial contribution to the development of a more inclusive and equitable society, Bhasker said.

Professor Rajesh Chandwani explained the goal and specifics of the project by saying that the initiative originates from IIMA's observations from a one-day interactive session held by the institute with a group of visually impaired women last year.

Based on the session, the IIMA faculty have designed a course in which they will not only teach participants about the various facets of leadership in the social sector, but they will also learn how to improve the pedagogical creativity and work towards creating inclusive classrooms.

The objective of the training programme is to have meaningful discussions with the participants and create policy briefs on these subjects, Chandwani said.

IIMA Leadership Training Programme Details

The program's twenty-five participants come from a variety of organisations across Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

The participants of the programme will learn concepts and trends in a variety of topics, including Strategic Thinking for the Social Sector, Governance and Compliance Issues in NGOs, Financial Literacy: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities, Managing Negotiations, Leading Oneself in the Social Sector, and more.

The training programme will equip the participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to gradually advance up the organisational growth ladder or pursue senior-level positions in the social sector by providing them a better understanding of various management functions and aspects, including self-growth.

IIMA faculty members are modifying the course material and instruction to keep it straightforward, student-friendly, and efficient while also taking the participants' unique needs into consideration.

The Lal PathLabs Foundation established the Dr. Lal Chair in Healthcare in 2022. The Chair's major goal is to do innovative research that can advance industry-academia collaboration, maximise forward and backward linkages in the healthcare ecosystem, and foster thought leadership in this field.

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