Chetna Gala Sinha 2016

Chetna Gala Sinha, Founder of the Mann Deshi Foundation, was selected as The 2016 Global Presence Humanitarian Award Recipient for her magnanimous contributions in the arena of resource management and finance. The Mann Deshi Foundation empowers rural women entrepreneurs throughout India with the knowledge, skills, courage, access and capital to have more control over their lives. 

​In 1996, Chetna Gala Sinha decided to set up the first rural bank for women. She was inspired by Kantabai, a welder from Mhaswad, Maharashtra who narrated an account of being repeatedly rejected by banks when she tried to set up a savings account.

The goal of the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank was to address a lack of access to formal financial institutions and provide a safe space for rural women to save their money.

The Mann Deshi Foundation supports the bank by addressing needs beyond financing. They work on building business skills and facilitating market access for women entrepreneurs and their communities.

Mann Deshi is currently operating in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka and aims to reach one million women by 2022. 

Above photo features (Left to right) Global Presence Ambassador for Gurgaon, Dr. Saloni Singh, 2016 Humanitarian Award Recipient Chetna Gala Sinha, and Parenting 2.0 Founder Marlaine Cover.