What measures are organizations taking to create socially and financially inclusive communities for marginalized women? How do these organizations enable women to negotiate gender standards?

1. Navigating Social and
Financial Inclusion in
a Caste Society
A Case Study of
YWCA Govind Puri
IHP Social Entrepreneurship
October 21, 2016
Goldy Landau
Isabella Romeo
Bradley Wo 1

2. Acknowledgements
2

3. Our Approach
3

4. Our Journey
4

5. Our Methodology
Gender Dynamics
Interview Methods
Listening vs. Leading
Caste System
5

6. Our Learning
What Worked What Didn’t Work
Future Directions
● Flexibility
● Structure of interview
● Clarifying intentions
● Trying to speak to Sushma, a
beneficiary
● Attending self-help groups being led by the women
● Speaking to beneficiaries
6

7. Research Questions
Theme: Social and Financial Inclusion
What measures are organizations taking
to create socially and financially inclusive
communities for marginalized women?
How do these organizations enable
women to negotiate gender standards?
Sub-Questions
How does caste play a role in
SE/non-profit organizations?
What types of institutions or individuals
support these women?
7

8. Background and Mission
8

9. Govind Puri - Bhumiheen Camp
Hindu/Muslim/Sikh
Bengal, Bihar, Eastern UP, Rajasthan
Men in construction, clothing (Okhla)
Women as domestic cleaners
Metropolitan need for labor trumps caste
9

10. Organization: YWCA
Young Women’s Christian Association
“Empowering women in their
struggle for justice, attaining
higher social status and
legitimate rights…and equal
participation of women at all
levels [who] foresee a change
in their role in Indian society”
10

11. Products & Beneficiaries
11

12. Services
& Beneficiaries
● Daycare for children of migrant workers
● Premarital & Marriage Counseling
● Abuse Support Group
● Vocational Training
● Shelters
● Microcredit: (Yunus-style)
● Financial Education
12

13. Funding, Impact, & Challenges
13

14. Funding
Salaries
Outreach
Programs 14

15. Impact Measured
● Stakeholder pressure → focus on evaluation
● Monthly and yearly quantified evaluations
○ Number of new cases reported
○ Number of counseling sessions held
● Monthly meetings:
○ Hindu Personal Law
○ Dowry
○ Rights of working women
○ Awareness of Domestic Violence Act
● Women’s perceptions
15

16. Challenges - Patriarchy
men fear empowered women
husbands don’t want wives to participate
parents don’t want daughters to work
women dependent on head of family
YWCA programs less effective
16

17. Conclusions
YWCA as a social enterprise?
Role of government in encouraging solutions?
Conflict-resolution method of assisting women’s independence
Centers women in finding solutions to domestic problems
Use of social norms to combat social norms
17

18. A Comparison
18

19. Brazil vs. India
Research Questions Approach Findings
Brazil Focus on….
- Access to capital
- Peripheral
communities
- More focus on
background and history
- Little time for questions
- Claim of no challenges to
women’s empowerment by
community
- Financial empowerment
India Focus on…
- Negotiation tactics
- Low-caste women
- Clearer interview layout
- More time for questions
- Heavy challenges to
women’s empowerment by
community
- Social empowerment
19

20. 20

21. Thank you for listening!
21

22. Photo Bibliography
YWCA logo - http://www.icfn.in/static/2015/03/31/YWCA_of_Bangalore_city.150x112.jpg
Chrysanthemums show - http://www.delhievents.com/2013/12/the-65th-chrysanthemum-show-flower-show.html
Blue Triangle Family Hostel -
https://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g304551-d785374-Reviews-YWCA_Blue_Triangle_Family_Hostel-New_Delhi_N
ational_Capital_Territory_of_Delhi.html
YWCA Institute - http://www.mediacenterimac.com/events/media-center-imac-mailer-new-admission/
World YWCA - http://www.girlsnotbrides.org/members/world-ywca/
22