
Women on Wheels
New Delhi, India
Critical Need
Traditional gender roles in India have created an uneven playing field for women when it comes to accessing education and employment opportunities. Our ground partners, Azad Foundation, work with disadvantaged women from resource-poor urban areas across India, to empower them to become professional commercial drivers. Azad’s signature program, Women on Wheels, provides technical, self-empowerment and self-development training to fully equip women to become self-sustaining professional drivers.
Our Involvement
Planeterra and G Adventures have provided funding for a third of Women on Wheels fleet vehicles, as well as funding and resources for the Women on Wheels training program. G Adventures was the first tour operator to contract Women on Wheels as our India airport pick-up partner, creating a sustainable and growing customer base for this emerging social enterprise.
Impact
The Women on Wheels program provides livelihoods for women where women were once not accepted. This program is challenging cultural norms and paving new paths for women across India. Over 500 drivers were trained in 2018 through the Azad Foundation, and Sakha directly employs 46 women through their social enterprise. As this model gains success, Sakha has been spreading the program across India to empower more women and provide safe transfers for families and travellers.