International Women's Day Issue
26
PADMINI GUPTA Chief Executive Officer rise
What aspects of rise’s gender empowerment programmes are you most proud of and why? We are really unique, probably the only one globally, as a financial services company that predominantly serves women customers. We started by building financial services for domestic helpers in the UAE – which represent 1 in 4 women in the country and are some of the most marginalised people in our community. We started by helping them gain access to bank accounts, get insured, build a retirement plan and get affordable loans. We also initiated the first UAE Best Nanny Awards in 2016 to celebrate this community. We did this to help celebrate the many women who are our everyday superheroes – but are often ashamed to share that they work as domestic helpers with their families back home. We started this to bring recognition to the critical role nannies play in our society, with more than 95% of UAE kids having some percentage of their time spent under nanny supervision.
