Hillary Rodham Clinton and Reema Nanavaty on Women's Economic Independence

During a trip to India in Hillary Rodham Clinton met members of the Self Employed Women's Association, an organization known as SEA As she heard success stories from some of the country's poorest women, she learned how these women were able to change their lives with just a small loan and a basic business education. Hillary and the executive director of SEWA, Rima Nanavati, joined Milan at the Seneca Women

Forum at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here, how say what is helping women achieve economic independence, Why implementing simple organizational practices are the key to a successful business, and how technology is opening unexpected doors to opportunity for these women. Enjoy the conversation and stick around after from my top takeaways,

we'll be back after this break. Well, we're very side it and you're going to hear some very wonderful things about a great organization and somebody who knows it well, So the woman to my right needs no introduction, clearly. But since we're celebrating women's leadership and we're hearkening back to the Equal Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, I just

want to review very quickly. First, lady went to the Beijing Women's Conference you and world conference Women's Rights are Human Rights, sparked a global movement, moved moved on to the Senate from New York. First woman elected to the Senate in New York, and then to the State Department

as Secretary of State, highly respected. And then our major political party nominated her as the first woman ever nominated to the trouble and should I add she did get the popular vote, but she just accused me of being a troublemaker. Uh. But you know all that. But what you may not know is how many women's organizations at home and around the world she has lifted up and

given voice to and validated. Uh. And that's why we're here to talk about the work of say we the Self Employed Women's Association, And you just saw this opening video and I want to Rima Nanavati is the head of SEWA. She truly has provided freedom to millions of poor women in India through economic empowerment. And to her right is one of the members of SEWA who you'll hear hear from later in our conversation, Gary Ramabai. And

you saw her. She's a movie star. So Secretary Clinton, some twenty plus years ago you visited Saywan, I'm about India. Tell us what you remember? What what was there? You know? I have to start by um thanking Milan for her tireless work on behalf of women and girls here at home and around the w world. And she has been my uh colleague, my friend, my partner uh in all

of this work now for uh seven years. One of the most thrilling meetings that I've ever had in public life is when I visited say Was headquarters in I had heard about this amazing woman, Ela bat who in nineteen seventy two started an organization for self employed women, poor women, women working in the salt fields, women working on farms, women working in markets, women working at home

with embroidery and other crafts. And Ela had this idea and it was way before it's time that by organizing women to have a voice for them, elves to be given some assistance small micro loans and guidance and support. They could become self sufficient and they could also contribute to their families well being. So when I went to visit them in UM, they showed me their ledgers, and the ledgers had the money that had been lent to thousands of women and how it was being paid back.

And I often said that the payment record of poor women in India, which was like nine was better than most commercial banks UH in our country or elsewhere, because these women were so grateful to have this financial assistance. So after looking at the ledgers, I was led out to an area out side a tent that was tented and there were I don't know how many thousands of women, some of whom had walked a day to get there. It was a sea of color because it was every

color of sorry, every kind of embroidery. It was the most beautiful site. And we talked and UM I asked a few questions, and one of the women told me why being a member of Saying I was so important to her, because she said she had freedom and she could be free from not only her husband but her mother in law. And when we finished talking and I got up, thinking that it was time to leave all the women rose and they began to sing we shall

overcome in Uh Gujarati. What I saw that day was so inspiring to me because it was the power of hope. It was by dint of hard work. It was the support that they were giving to one another. It was the fact they were organized. And I stayed in touch. I would see Remo or others from time to time here in this country. When I was Secretary of State, I went back Uh and made it absolutely a stop on my tour because I wanted to continue the work we had done to lift up the lives of women

and especially the Now. It was when I was Secretary of State one point two million members. Now it's two million in India and another million and a half in Kistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh other places. I just can't speak enough about how this has truly provided economic empowerment and through economic empowerment, freedom and dignity and the full fulfillment of the lives

of so many women. And now we're onto the second and even third generation of the daughters and granddaughters, and they want different things that they want a different kind of say. Well, although says members in India are women under thirty right, So there's so much to be learned from what they have accomplished. But I also think it's such a good news story that it's really important that more people hear it. And I'm thrilled that Rema can be here to tell us firsthand about the progress that

say what has made. So Rema tell us about I'm sure there are many in this audience who are not acquainted with the work of SEWA. Tell us how you move women the great majority of them start out as waste pickers, and how they come to have work with dignity that's sustainable. UM No, Massy, thank you so much, and it's such an honor to be against you know, with you Secretary Clinton, and Miland has been a true

supporter all through in this two decades. Um. You gave such a wonderful introduction, so I don't need to repeat that again. But I think the message that I bring today on behalf of all our two million UM sisters from India is and especially from the young members of SEWA, who are aspiring UM, who are looking for more hope, who are looking for a peaceful world, who are looking for a world in which they have work which brings

them dignity which also brings them selves respect. And I think the biggest message which I've been telling Milan again and again is that you know, poor do not want charity. I think all they want is an enabling environment where they can come together. And listening all through this evening, I felt that, you know, solidarity, sisterhood. And I think it's the power of work which is so magical. When

women's work, it's voice and visibility and validity. When they come together as poor, as women and as workers UM, she's able to and when she gets work based on the skills and the knowledge that she has, it gives her that tremendous confidence. And then she agains gains the collective strength from the camera to ray of other sisters that she's UM together with. And I think it's that

organizing UM that gives her that strength. And with organizing then the members of SIVA are able to tap into to get small loans which otherwise they are not UM. You know, readily, given access to she's able to build her infrastructure. She's able to gain access to healthcare, she's able to build her own enterprise, get access to markets. In short, she's able to lift herself out of poverty and she's able to then take on any challenges that

life may bring to her. And I'm saying that's not just on behalf of her two million sisters in India, but also we have seen that in Afghanistan or in Pakistan, in the war Ton areas of Sri Lanka, or Myanmar or in put On. And I think the other message that um we would like to share on behalf of our millions of sisters is that you know, when you put technology into their hands, they know how the best application of it could be. You know, how can a waste collector also can use a robot, you know, and

so robotics is nothing bad. But you know she no longer has to you know, rummage through the garbage, but she can use a robot to do all that. Or a manual scavenger who has to get down into the trains in our country still to you know, clean those trains. If she has access to robotics, how she can change her life, you know. Or a young daughter of a farmer who feels that, you know, how can she turn her farming to an enterprise? And that's where you know,

how she can use AI into agriculture and farming. We learned it from use a Secretary Clinton, when you had invited one of our small farmers to the State Department, and how she was sharing that having and she took out a small loan to take her cell phone, to buy a cell phone. And now she runs her own Agrive business company with two hundred and fifty thousand small women farmers like her, which has a turnover of about

ten million rooties. And I think it's the same moment when she this year in our annual general meeting, she rose up and she said, seventeen years ago, I had no identity of our own. I was confined to the four walls of my house. Today I no longer feel I'm poor. I may be literate, but I'm not poor. And I think this is the kind of dignity, this is the kind of self respect um that I think

brings the women out of polity. So Rema raised um the issue of technology, which you might think doesn't go together with illiterate women, but what they are able to do through technology is extraordinary. And one of the things that you did, Secretary Clinton at the State Department, as you were trying to close the gender gap in mobile technology Now why did that matter? Well, that's exactly right, UM, as Rema said, And really I was inspired by what women in say, well, we're able to do if they

had access UH to technology, particularly mobile phones. UM. We knew that there was a gap in mobile phone ownership and you age, between men and women, and we knew that if we could help to close that gap, it would provide opportunities for women to utilize UH technology in their businesses and in their homes and families. So we did have a big initiative UH to try to work with other foundations and other UH leaders. Sharie Blair was someone working on that through her foundation UH to help

lower the price, increase the access UH provide education. Although everybody was a really fast learner once they got access to it. It's wonderful to see UH. And and we found you could deliver messages, you can deliver health messages. You can deliver messages about weather, which is really important if you're a farmer, UM, you could deliver messages about education. UH,

if you are worried about your children's future. There were It's just an unlimited UH number of uses that could be UM imagined and then implemented for UH technology, and I'm thrilled that, say what has been a real leader in this Uh? There there are other women's groups, micro enterprise groups, organized groups UM in other parts of the world, But say what has been a leader and adaptability? If I could mention, one other area that we worked on

when I was in the State Department was clean cook stoves. UM. Clean cook stoves was a passion of mind because respiratory distress is the fourth leading cause of death for women and children worldwide. Because if you're UM cooking over uh a fire made with wood or dung UH and you breathe the smoke, and especially if you're in a small space, UH, you acquire all kinds of breast tory um ailments and often they lead to UM, decreased lung capacity and even death.

So one of our initiatives in the State Department was to promote clean cook stoves and say what was a great partner because you had to get models that would work in different climates, that would work with different uh, different villages, different groups of women who were used to UH spending their time hunting for firewood and would need

to learn a new way of cooking. But say what has been instrumental in spreading clean cook stoves in India, which over time, if we keep it up and we're determined to do that, is going to uh save lives and improve the quality of life for many women. Do you want to say something about that? Remote? Sure? I think UM, when Um Secretary Um Clinton had first us that you know, what do you think about cooks, sters and o ge Um? You know, definitely because this is

what women have to deal dane and day out. But you know, in countries like ours, everybody has taken that cooking is taken for granted that you know, women have to cook, So what's a big deal in it? Um? And you know, we wanted to bring a clean cooksters. We wanted to bring clean fuel to the houses of

the women, but we didn't want to distribute stars. And so you know, UM, we designed a whole um program where you know, i f C, the International Finance Corporation, gave a first last guarantee and each woman bought a clean cooksters. So today we have half a million women using those clean coaksters. And you know, once Um, but it was a challenge for us because you know, the husband's and the mother in law always thought that you know, oh, we have been cooking for generation, so why do you

need to take a loan for a cookster? And then then the challenge of how do you upkeep and maintain those cooksters? And then from cooksters, the women now started using the LPG, so they are moving up into the social ladder. And with that, then we started bringing in solar power. So you have, you know, a solar powered cookster, so she no longer has to depend on whether the fan in the stove is working or not, or you know, whether she still needs to cut the fuel and chop it.

But she just has a solar power and she just plugs it in and the stuff is up and running. And I think we are now ex scaling this up to take it to all our two million members. And that brought in a whole aspect of how do you bring access to energy because if you really want to improve and and then the livelihood energy is. So this is such a strong nexis between women, energy, fuel, you know,

food and nutrition. And you've created an excess with the private sector because a lot of what you've been able to do has been because businesses have partnered with say well, maybe you could mention your new health venture, and then we can move on quickly to your friend to your right and the exciting work she's doing. Yeah, and you shouldn't be keeping them all, holding them impatiently listening for the last two hours. But I think and just a few more minutes and we'll stop here for you all

to have a lovely evening meal as well. But I think, as you're right, as you rightly brought out that, you know, my second big message on behalf of our millions of sisters, Secretary Clinton, is that they need is partnerships. And I think the kind of partnerships you partner in growth, but you also partner in you know, the difficult times or in the losses as well, and that will health the

enterprises grow. How do you bring access to healthcare? How do you bring your like how we brought banking at the doorstep, how do you bring access to healthcare at their doorstep? And that's where I think we have been very fortunate to be able to partner with abbott Um. And again, as I said, we don't want charity, so we didn't want anything free. But how do you create a model that is sustainable and that women can have

access to healthcare at their doorsteps. So we have the young daughters of gowery bands, the daughters in law who have hand held devices, who have those glucometers, who go from house to house and you know, they keep track of the health parameters of our member birth and um, you know how when the parameter is crossing danger lines? How do you take her to referral services? And that's the kind of a model that we are creating. Also

to take it to policy level. When we talk about universal healthcare, what does it actually mean for the rural and the poor women or the women in the informal sector. And that's the kind of the partnership that we are talking about. So it's a win win, um, you know for the members. So technology innovation, Airbnb, alliterate women, what

are they doing on AIRBNBA? You know, how do you um when we have the issues of security and mobility of young daughters or young daughters in law and who have studied, but you know, who are not able to find meaningful productive work. And that's where you know, I tumbled across airbn B. My son was studying at Risdy and there was the alumni of Rerisdy was the founder of Airbnb and I was getting introduced and I thought,

what will I on Earth to do with Airbnb? And then I thought, anyway, if I'm meeting, I should really innovate something. And there I you know, lo and behold, And I approached Airbnb back home in India and I said, would you list my sister's homes on Airbnb? And like rural homes on Airbnb, So let's see the story from my own sister. As today we have close to thousand

homes listed on Airbnb. Any No, I'm Garryban and I've been a member of Savana for twenty five years and I want to say that you would have seen h and you would have come across several companies in this world, but not a company like mine with the owners and managers r P are all women like me, and we control the entire supply chain right from puttings of raw material to the sale of finnished products. So we are the owners of our company. So I think you have

a flavor. We invite you to go visit the Indian villagers listed on Airbnb. If your companies to partner uh with with, saywah, they're wonderful partnerships that can be developed their successful ones are going. I don't know if you want to add anything, Secretary Clinton, but it's been quite an experience, it has, and I'm so happy that we could share the stories you've just heard with all of you.

And I would only underscore what Milan said, UH, this is a really good investment for a partnership for the kind of uh visible progress that can be made in people's lives. Women's lives and SAY what has been plowing that ground now for decades, but they're really at a new level of development and it's something that Rima and the leadership of SAY are really focused on. You heard her briefly mentioned the health insurance program that they're going

to be rolling out. We need good models today, don't we. We need to demonstrate that we can, we can get things to work, and we can help people and we can all be the better for it. And as you just heard, I mean, we really are all in this together, whether we want to admit it or not. And if we do admit it, then there's an opportunity for everybody to partner with SAY well UH in some way, and so I would I would urge you to follow up

directly or through Milan. UH. And I think I'm supposed to get another presentation, aren't I You're supposed to get a presentation from Gory. Yes, so let's see what she has for you. Ah may farishe May far garishe uh may bakarish oh hon dem, I'm Theresa mad. Yeah. Stay tuned for our takeaways after this break. I hope you enjoyed that conversation about the incredible women of say We. Visit say what dot org for more information about the

Self Employed Women's Association. Our top takeaways. First, women's economic empowerment is critical. When women can make and manage their own money, they're able to exercise better control over their own lives and help provide for their families. It also creates a double dividend. Women reinvest their earnings back into their communities and economies. Second, those in need are looking for opportunity, not charity. They need a hand up, not

a handout. Lastly, as REMA shares, partnerships can accelerate progress for women beyond philanthropic gestures. A well designed partnership with the private sector can result in sustainable programs that create shared value. They're both good for women and good for business. You're Listening to Seneca Women Conversations on Power and Purpose Brought to you by the Seneca Women podcast Network and

I Heart Radio with support from founding partner PNG. Listen to Seneca Women Conversations on Power and Purpose on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, and please support this podcast by telling your friends, subscribing, and rating us. For more information on Seneca Women, follow us on social media, visit our website Seneca Women dot com, and check out the Seneca Women app free in the app Store. Have a great day.