The Face of Nobility: An Engineer's Awe-inspiring Journey for a Social Cause
The role of an entrepreneur is not just to solve market problems and generate profits. It can also be to bring about social change. Dhwani Jain is one such social-preneur who left a corporate job behind to help the lesser privileged. She has represented India in the the 3rd BRICS & SCO International Spring Festival in Russia as Head of Indian Delegation and the 1st SCO Youth Campus held in China. She received the ‘Pride of the Nation Excellence Award’. Dhwani has also been recognized as the ’Global Change Maker’ by WeMakeChange, an international organization uniting the youth all over the world to bring about a positive change. HerMoneyTalks could not have asked for a better story to tell.
Dhwani runs a comprehensive day care centre in Delhi for the health, education, and skilling of children with special needs and abilities. The centre also caters to students from under-privileged and economically backward sectors. Dhwani is also working for prison reforms to improve the quality of life of inmates and facilitate their rehabilitation. Her passion for a gender-just society motivated Dhwani to start a campaign highlighting the solutions to the everyday challenges faced by women. She is also the Founder of KARMA Foundation, and envisions to make a change in the world.
Moreover she is working rigorously to promote India as a Cultural Hub with the aim of fostering Cultural Diplomacy and Cultural Tourism. This wonder woman has been titled a ‘DhasuWomaniya’ by NitiAayog-powered Women Entrepreneurship Platform and Safejob for making a difference in society by her work. Interestingly, Dhwani featured in a music video with stalwarts like Mary Kom and Jaya Jaitley along with 30 other women.
Listening to one's inner voice
“In pursuit of my dream to contribute more meaningfully to the country, I decided to quit my corporate career and took on the challenge to become a social entrepreneur,” recollects Dhwani.
As a staunch believer of the concept of 'Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' since her school days, she is working with a long term vision of building an inclusive and participatory society wherein every individual lives a life of dignity as an empowered and self-reliant entity.
I still remember the day when I resigned from my secured job to take an unknown path. Suddenly, I lost financial stability and security in life. Almost everyone thought I am crazy.
The first role of an entrepreneur is to listen to her inner voice. “I still remember the day when I resigned from my secured job to take an unknown path. Suddenly, I lost financial stability and security in life. Almost everyone thought I am crazy,” giggles Dhwani.
In place of an easy and comfortable life, she accepted sleepless nights and tiring days. She was accompanied only by her strong will to serve the nation.
From a happy-go-lucky young college girl to an engineer and then to a social entrepreneur, Dhwani grew as an International figure as the opportunities to represent her motherland in various international forums started queuing up.
Handling apprehensions with maturity
This risk taker believes that handling one’s apprehensions properly is the second role of an entrepreneur. “There are days when everything does not happen as planned, when things go wrong, and it definitely jolts my confidence,” explains Dhwani.
Dhwani’s positive attitude, firm determination, and support from family were the key drivers in her journey. Generation of funds has been the biggest challenge that she faced as an entrepreneur. The general perception of the public with regard to NGOs worsened her situation. “We struggled hard to get a place on rent to establish our health and education centre,” rues Dhwani. Despite all this, she continued her efforts with a clear vision and roadmap to success.
There are days when everything does not happen as planned, when things go wrong, and it definitely jolts my confidence.
“It was a tough journey. People judged me for being a woman and questioned my ability to take my dream forward,” reminisces the hardy social-preneur. The bias of society towards gender and age never diminished her self belief. As she kept plodding forward on her mission step by step, people started believing in her dream. Many like-minded people came forward to join her.
“Another challenge was to keep my team motivated at all times.” Communication was the key to the issue. Dhwani and team worked as a family to achieve a common goal, and apprised each other of their problems and insecurities.
Financial independence to spur confidence
With the “never say die” attitude inherited from her parents, Dhwani became the voice of change. According to Dhwani, the third role of an entrepreneur, especially women, is to take charge of her finances. When that happens, it spurs her confidence. That in turn paves the way for a gender equal world, for themselves and future generations.
Dhwani's advice for women is simply but profound:
(1) Don’t be bogged down by societal pressures
(2) Follow your dreams and passion
(3) Take charge of your life
(4) Believe in yourself and the world will start believing in you
(5) Most importantly, stand for each other
With rising incidents of domestic violence during the Covid lockdown, Dhwani has started a helpline for women facing these abuses. She opines that the United Nations have recognized domestic violence against women as a “shadow pandemic” alongside the COVID-19 pandemic. In the next phase, this woman leader intends to help these women set up their business for their sustenance.
Befitting her name, Dhwani has truly become the voice of the under-privileged and have-nots of society.
