6th Martha Farrell Award Ceremony

The Martha Farrell Award for Excellence in Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality has been instituted to honour Dr. Martha Farrell and her ideals. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative to discover, recognize, and honor mid-career individuals and committed institutions which have made valuable contributions in the areas of women’s empowerment, gender equality, and living feminism in their everyday lives and practices. 

The Award offers nominees and winners a platform to grow and network with like-minded professionals and institutions working in the space of gender empowerment and equality. Winners also receive a prize money component of INR 1,50,000 each.

The 6th Martha Farrell Award ceremony, jointly organised by PRIA, Martha Farrell Foundation, and Rural Development Trust was held on November 19th, 2022 at the India International Centre (C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, 40, Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Gardens, Delhi 110003). 

Ms. Rita Sarin (Board Member of the Martha Farrell Foundation, and Chairperson of the PRIA Governing Board) presented the ‘Most Promising Individual’ award to Ms. Grace Banu. Ms. Banu is India's first transgender Engineer and co-founder of Transgender Rights Now (TRN) Collective, an organization working towards gender equality and forwarding the rights of transgender persons. A Dalit person from Tamil Nadu, Grace has personally helped hundreds of transgender persons access education, healthcare, and employment, and worked towards enabling trans representation in leadership across sectors.

Mr. Suheil Tandon ( Director-Founder of Pro Sport Development, and Board Member of the Martha Farrell Foundation) presented the Special Jury Award(Individual) to Ms. Meghana Srinivas. Ms. Srinivas is a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur and founder of TrustIn, a social enterprise committed to facilitating safety in the workplace at scale. TrustIn integrates software, policies, and training. It supports organisations to meaningfully comply with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, supporting Internal Committees with due process and timelines for investigation, and employees with relevant information and updates about the progress of redressal of their complaints.

The Award for ‘Best Organization for Gender Equality’ was presented to Archana Women’s Centre by Ms. Namita Bhandare, an esteemed member of the Award jury, senior journalist, and writer. Founded in 2004 by Thresiamma Mathew, AWC is a Kerala-based organization working towards women’s empowerment by enabling the participation of women in traditionally male-dominated fields. Through its work, AWC supports women's access to financial and social inclusion and empowerment. AWC’s commitment to women’s empowerment is outward and inward-facing, empowering the community and employees simultaneously.

Following this, the final ‘Special Jury Award’ (organisation) was presented by Dr. Ashok Khosla, Founding Director of Development Alternatives, to Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company. Founded in 2009 by Thinlas Chorol, Ladakhi Women's Travel Company (LWTC) is an all-women trekking company based in Ladakh which enables women to enter a previously male-dominated workforce as professional female trekking guides – breaking stereotypes, countering gender-based discrimination, and creating livelihood opportunities for women. Capacity building, financial inclusion,and social empowerment are some of the key objectives that the organisation seeks to fulfill, with a vision to change the landscape of Ladakh's travel industry.