Chetna Gala Sinha

Chetna Gala Sinha is an Indian social activist working to empower women in drought-prone areas of rural India by teaching entrepreneurial skills, access to land and means of production. Chetna Sinha and six other women chaired the 48th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland in January 2018. Chetna Gala Sinha has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India's highest civilian award for women. In 1997, she set up the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank – India's first bank for and by rural women. Mann Deshi Bank had 100,000 account holders and had loaned over $50 million to support female micro-entrepreneurs in 2018. Mann Deshi foundation runs Business Schools, a Community Radio and a Chambers of Commerce for rural women micro entrepreneurs. In 2018 it had supported nearly half a million women.