WOW (wisdom of women). The WOW factor: inspiring a new generation of women leaders
Click here to see the full list
The search begins:
There it was, the third tweet in a month ”Top 20 women to follow on twitter” ! Yet another list from the western Hemisphere. Where is the list from Asia I thought ? After all this is the Asian century. It can hardly be a true Asian century without highlighting the thought leadership from the region.
Given my corporate leanings, and the interest in women and leadership, I decided to start there. So I sent out a tweet:
“Searching for the Sheryl Sandbergs of Asia. Give me a name and reason”
The search lasted many weeks, tweeted and retweeted, reached Japan, China, India and US. Many liked my question, encouraged my efforts but no one knew of such a list.
In Asia my network is largely in India so that is where I got most responses from. The majority of the names were journalists and actors. Social media folks followed close. However, this list was not diverse enough and I searched some more.
By now I had moved past my interest in women leaders just from corporate India. Now it became about highlighting all women who represented a niche. Not about Klout scores, not about followers, not about time spent on twitter. So it became:
“Searching for the #top25 Indian women to follow on twitter. Leaders of their niche, not just celebs and media folks”
I searched so long that the question may have faded from the memory of many who supported and encouraged this search. I raided twitter follower lists of famous people, tried popular twitter tools and tried to include as many unique niches as I could.
Today I send this list out and dedicate it to all women thought leaders from Asia, not just from media and film, not just the corporate world but all the ones that are making a difference in their own way.
Who do we have here:
I have tried to include a cross section of women (currently based in India) and so you will find in this list women who are: TED fellows,Rural health care delivery specialists, Food critics, Political Scientists, Award winning costume designer, NGO leaders, Marketing gurus, Entrepreneurs, Ethnographers, Career coaches, HR professionals, CEOs, Photographers, Sports personalities, Cartoonists, Doctors, Travel writers, Human rights activists, Nutritionist and of course the journalists and the actors.
Who cares and why bother ?
Such lists are important for India and for women. They highlight our thought leadership, our tribes and our contributions. It enables us to have truly global networks and conversations. They provide role models and support systems.
They also are a means of claiming our space on social media in general and twitter in particular. As NY Times notes in the blog “New Media’s old problems”:
” When it comes to digital punditry, women appear to have less influence. Foreign Policy magazine, which is run by a woman, included a paltry 12 women in its list last week of 100 people worth following on Twitter. n response, a group of Twitter users created a separate list of only women that was subsequently posted on Foreign Policy’s Web site, but the point had been made: in the eyes of the magazine, women in foreign policy matter less – at least on Twitter.”
Each woman on this list has the capability to connect you to her world, and to many other men and women who may not be on twitter but are changing the world in their own way.
Take it to the next level
I hope this list will inspire many more lists. How about 30 under 30 Indians changing the world on twitter, the Indian NGO corner on twitter, blogger moms and dads from India on twitter. The sky is the limit.
You will also notice that my list of 50 women actually has 51 names and that is because 51 is an auspicious number in India. Also because I hope this list will grow beyond the initial expectations set for it. 51 women today can start 51000 conversations, connections and communities.
Also because it symbolizes the incompleteness of this list. I am sure to have missed out some fantastic women out there and that extra one stands for the one I missed out ! Also this is not a ‘top’ 50 list and nor is this about who got included or left out. . A mostly crowdsourced list is never complete, nor ever perfect. But then this is not about all that. It is about making a start somewhere, anywhere. From no list to a list of 51
Please tweet this list out and let us see how far it travels around the world. Follow, recommend and talk to the women on this list and tell them you found them here ! Keep me posted #50women and on @tanvi_gautam
Also please leave a comment because I am writing an article on the journey of this tweet to be published soon. Would love to know your thoughts on this list and search !
And lest you thought I forgot the link:
Thanks for reading !
Tanvi.
great initiative
good luck
Oh this is wonderful. Really a great initiative. We need to have such lists to show the changing nature of human communication.
Best wishes.
Excellent list, Tanvi, and thanks for including me. I’m honored to be listed among such inspiring women.
One recommendation: To make the list more sharable, I would recommend that you put up the list on your blog with a line or 2 about each woman and why you included them. Then you can link them to the list to follow it. That’s how most ‘western’ lists get shared extensively from what I know
You can also tip some newspapers about the same, considering how interested they’ve been in carrying Twitter stories lately!
Thanks Shivya ! You were certainly one of the most interesting women I met thanks to this project. I would love to carry details on all women. May be if they can all send me a short write up, I can put it up. I like the newspaper idea. If you have any ‘friends’ or suggestions, DM me
thanks for the inclusion, and agree with this idea!
Thank you Tanvi – for curating this list. It did take long didn’t it? And it was encouraging and fascinating to watch you tweet and re-tweet and reach out to people for recommendations.
While I’m not a fan of lists in general, you have done an exceptional job of supporting the list with your incisive comments and this blog post.
To have explained why such a list is important and what your motivations are, you make this list an important one not only for the ladies who are on the lost but also for hopefully improved recognition of Asian women who are, as you said, “They highlight our thought leadership, our tribes and our contributions. It enables us to have truly global networks and conversations. They provide role models and support systems.”
My best regards,
Naina
Thank you Naina ! Yes, you were one of the few people who saw me persist on this journey. long after the buzz had died. Hopefully this is just the beginning of things. Again, I appreciate your meeting me a ‘stranger’ on twitter and participating in this project with such gusto.
Best,
Tanvi
Hi Tanvi,
I think this is a very important effort you’re putting into effect here. From my vantage point here in Canada, most lists of influential people do tend to be rather North American/European-centric, which is somewhat to be expected given how we tend to rely on our own experiences and assumptions of what we think is influential or important.
Although this is why such lists tend to be subjective, they are nonetheless important because it not only draws attention to the efforts of people making a difference/who’ve made a difference, but it also allows for us to have contemporary role models worth getting to know and look up to.
There’s no question that India and other Asian countries have people who are just as inspiring, talented and worth following/getting to know which is why I applaud your efforts and will be glad to help draw attention to it.
I’d also like to second Shivya’s suggestion of creating a list on your blog with a short bio and rationale for why these women were selected to make it more shareable on other platforms. In addition to providing their Twitter handles, I’d also include their websites so people can know where else they can connect with them.
Again, congrats on this effort, Tanvi. I’m sure once you started curating this list, you found yourself with many amazing women worth showcasing for their talents, insights, and contributions. Looking forward to seeing the final cut of what I’m sure will become an annual event.
Hi Tanvi,
Thank you for including me in this list. Though am surprised as am a new at Twitter and have been following most of the women on the list (including yours) with lot of fascination. I appreciate the effort it would have taken to curate the list. Wonderful initiative and in case you need any help just give a shout or “tweet”
Sure thing ! I had not asked myself this question of Women from India to follow on twitter till about 3 months ago, and so I discovered many women and their niches.
As for your being new on twitter, and still on this list, See my previous tweet “you don’t have to be famous to have wisdom to share”
Good luck to your ventures !
Tanvi
Quite interesting…but Sagarika Ghose and Barkha Dutt as “Indian women who know and influence their niche”…a narrow niche it must be.
Would have loved to follow all on the list, but, then hey! 49 is good number too!
Tanvi thank you for including me on this list!Really Really appreciate it
Tanvi,
Here’s a TED Fellow who wishes she was on this list. Would you please consider me if you plan to expand it
Like Naina said, not a fan of lists per se but this blog post truly explained why and how.
Sometime back I started a search for Iconic Single Independent Indian Women. The word ‘Single’ was important because my effort was about deconstructing Indian family systems patriarchal or not, and the pressure of Indian women to balance work and family responsibilities. I hardly found any names except few like Barkha Dutt, Suraiya, Irom Sharmila.
Would be great to have your thoughts on this.
Thanks for this list.
Sanjukta
Hi Sanjukta,
Thank so much for your lovely post and your kind words. Deeply appreciate it ! Very insightful.
It is true that I was motivated by the same instincts as you (though your bar was higher I have to say). I also tried crowdsourcing via twitter but as with many things the support died down after the initial buzz. Staying with a project after the high is over is always the toughest challenge.
I hope you will pick up your search again. Start with 5 and may be tomorrow it will grow to 25
I truly believe we have to start somewhere, anywhere.
As for including you, as I have said to many people today, this is an impefect and incomplete start. Meeting women like you makes it perfect and complete. Who knows I might do a 100 women soon and will be sure to have you on it. By commenting here though you are already a part of the WOW (wisdom of women) conversation.
Thanks again for posting !
Tanvi
Here is a naome to add to your list of Single Independent Indian Women – Nayantara Palchaudhuri.
A university gold medallist from Jadavpur University and a National Scholar, she was the recipient of the Metcalfe Scholarship at London School of Economics. She is also a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow.
She was a Rotary District Governor and the 1st lady President of Bengal National Chamber of Commerce. In 2007 she was the only person from India selected to visit USA for the International Visitors Leadership Program.
She is actively involved in the day-to-day running of her family business of 3 tea plantations and serves on various committees in the tea industry. She is also currently serving on the FICCI Executive Committee and is the Consul for the Royal Norwegian Consulate in Kolkata.
These are but only a few of her many achievements.
You obviously are very clueless about Twitter.
Tanvi,
A great start… appreciate your efforts..
Arunaa
Thank you Arunaa. Appreciate your taking a moment to encourage this effort.
Thanks for creating this list — it is helpful. I went and followed everyone on the list who I wasn’t already following.
As a travel writer / blogger who specializes in India and South Asia, I am always trying to learn more about the culture, and following these women will help.
Mariellen
Breathedreamgo
Thanks Mariellen ! Not just for posting but for doing something that illustrates one of the important ideas of this list: Creating global networks for women. BTW I am facinated with the work you are doing. Will certainly look up more of it.
Please be in touch,
Tanvi
Tanvi,
Truly a pleasure to know you and meet many other brilliant women in India.
If I have seen further it is by standing on ye shoulders of Giants. ~ Isaac Newton
These are the words which came to my mind when I came to know that I have been listed ” Top 50 women to follow on Twitter” by yourself.
The list is diverse . I feel Honored & Humbled to be in the company of great women who have accomplished much in their lives and for India. Having spent more than a decade across 2 industries, I would still say, Well, for me, it is just the beginning as I consider myself a #Lifelonglearner.
I pay Thanks to IBM,all my friends, family, colleagues & great IBM Leaders who have encouraged ,I have observed and I have been fortunate to learn from
as the saying goes Great Leaders look out the window to credit others and in the window when things go wrong. #goodtogreat Jim Collins #Leadership
There are many unsung heroes and heroines within this continent. I would be happy to contribute and to see the list ever growing
Regards,
Ruchi
Thanks for stopping by and sharing Ruchi ! Thank you also for encouraging this search all along. If all 50 women on this list created a list of 10 women they admire and why, that is 500 more women highlighted. Go for it !
Its really a big honour to know that my colleague,Ruchi has been listed as one of the top 50 women to follow on twitter .I am sure Ruchi deserves to be in the list and her magnetic influence should be able to inspire other womens to lead our great nation into the next decade .carry on the great work you have started .we are Proud to have known you and IBM is proud to own you
Quite a diverse and interesting list. I have had the opportunity to interact with nearly 50% of them on an ongoing basis, though actually follow less than 15% from the list. I am sure everyone would have their own reasons of adding and removing names, but if all these 51 power women create a list of 51 each, it sure would be quite a list. All the best.
Thank you for commenting and encouraging the list. Also for seeing that whose on it and whose off is a secondary question. Having a list, however imperfect, is what we were looking for.
And I couldn’t agree more with Tanveer . You have embarked upon a truly remarkable effort and search here, sparked off conversations and connected many of us through a shared purpose. I came to know that The list trended on Linkedin too which is a testimony to the fact that the concept and your idea has resonated with many minds . Indeed applaud-able , hats off Tanvi.
It would be a pleasure & honor both to meet you in person.
Cheers,
Ruchi
Great to see Kiran Bedi, Gul Panag and Dr Ruchi Dass on the list.They are good friends too. Keep going.
Well this list is very comprehensive if not exhaustive. Takes care of all that I follow on Twitter. Creating a niche to yourself isn’t a joke! It not only requires hard work but constant focus and successful deliveries.I would like to congratulate my favs- Kiran bedi, Gul panag, Barkha dutt, Dr Ruchi Dass and Deepa Sapatnekar. Kudos!
Tanvi – Great effort and initiative! Thanks for pioneering this! Also it is a pleasant surprise and absolute honor to be featured here among such diverse and remarkable woman! Thank You so much.
… Have a great day – Nischala
There’s one name I think I did not find there – Tanvi Gautam
You are very kind Nischala !
This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
Hi Tanvi,
Really nice idea and executed well.
I so agree with Nischala, thought leaders like you should be on this and many such lists. Would love to contribute couple of twitter handles that I follow (I don’t know them personally), if and when you plan to expand this list.
cheers,
Deepak Sadhvani
Yes, please. Suggest more twitter handles. I need to get 50 names. Thanks for your kind words too
Tanvi
Hi Tanvi,
Great list! And thank you for taking the initiative to share this with us.
But there’s a further name we’d love to add to this – yours! And of course, will keep writing to you on the ever-expanding suggestions!
Hey there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!
Tanvi,
It is a great beginning. And good to get connected to such a diverse and rich pool of knowledge and thoughts. A better substitute for a newspaper, magazine or a TV channel.
Thanks,
Ratan Jalan
I would suggest Dr. Vandana Shiva as well. @drvandanashiva
What a wonderful addition to the list ! Thanks
I recommend @nilanjanaroy if you’re interested in freedom of speech issues, women’s issues in India, literature, cats and lots more. Brilliant.
Had suggested @tushirox over Twitter. Literati, social activist & creative diva
Very effective initiative. Hats off !
Thanks ! I am so glad you found it useful.