Hyderabad, Telangana Jul 20, 2020 (Issuewire.com) - Four years ago, Uma Kasoji and Mahua Mukherjee walked into a leadership conference to find themselves the only two women amongst 60 leaders. This gender gap in leadership could not have been more evident, and led to the inception of ‘The star in me’.
Having graduated from premier institutes in India, Mahua and Uma wondered where all the ambitious women disappeared and why they were not reaching leadership levels. Mahua graduated from IIT Kharagpur and Indian School of Business and recently did an Advanced Management Program at MIT Sloan. Uma graduated from IIM Kozhikode and is currently a board member of the institute. Both have over 18 years of Corporate experience and have worked across several countries.
It is widely found that there is a significant gender gap in the workforce, and it this is amplified at leadership levels. As per a survey conducted by IBM in 2019 among 2,300 professionals surveyed worldwide, only 18 percent of top leadership positions are held by women. In India, this figure is significantly lower. ‘The star in me’ was thus founded by Mahua and Uma, with a vision to bridge the gender gap in leadership and the overall workforce..
Apart from leveraging their corporate experience, the founders spoke to 500+ women across countries to dissect the problem. They gathered that women need access to several resources as they advance in their careers and these resources were not easy to come by. This insight led to the design of ‘The star in me’ as a global career advancement platform for women leaders of today and tomorrow.
The star in me (https://thestarinme.com) was launched globally in mid-Jan 2020. In the past four months, the platform has built a member-base across 51 countries, with over 4000 registered users! The platform has enrolled over 70 global leadership coaches, including former CXOs, ivy-league professors, best-selling authors and industry leaders. Based on specific needs, coaches are chosen to deliver services to organizations and individuals. They have also partnered with global upskilling firms and have tie-ups with women professional groups across countries.
In line with the global spotlight on diversity, The star in me also works with organizations as a diversity partner to help them attract, engage and develop diverse talent. In the US, organizations spend $9 Billion a year on diversity training alone. “Organizations in India and elsewhere are following suit”, say the founders, as they work with organizations in designing and executing leadership programs, delivering virtual and in-person coaching initiatives and in hiring women talent.
This platform provides several resources that members can leverage to climb the career ladder. Women can showcase their personal brand using visual resumes, connect and network with women professionals across the globe, seek on-demand career guidance, coaching and mentoring, access upskilling resources, cutting-edge content and curated leadership programs.
“The platform uses a Data-science based solution to enable smart-matching of women and organizations with relevant services, resources, networks and content” – say the founders.
The star in me will soon create a Career marketplace through a 3-sided platform model. Women are looking for accelerated career growth, Organizations want to hire competent talent and develop women leaders and Service Providers need access to organizations and individuals. The platform will connect these three players through the first-ever marketplace for career advancement services.
Several women across countries, have leveraged the platform and shared heart-felt testimonials.
“I found The star in me serendipitously. I am so happy I joined this platform”, says Jill Cibella, a senior Project manager in Japan. “As a LinkedIn-like platform, this is a great resource for women professionals”, says Mindee Mosher, a Founder and Action Coach in US. “I have been involved in similar initiatives across platforms and I have to say that The star in me rises head and shoulders above the rest!” – says Philippa Mathewson, Director at Tranziam. “I needed assistance to overcome professional challenges and I was lucky to find The star in me. This platform helped me land my dream role” – says Vanishree Daruri, Assistant Vice President at a leading Healthcare firm in India.
This venture has an unfair advantage owing to multiple reasons – the timing which coincides with the global focus on Diversity, the network which gives founders access to ivy-league institutes, women groups and decision-makers and the core team through the founders’ domain experience and the technical expertise brought it by their technology partner – Xelpmoc.
As things came to a grinding halt amid the 2020 global pandemic, The star in me set out to make a difference. They conducted a series of talks by industry leaders and experts on a variety of topics. This initiative clocked over 3000 registrations across 10 countries and received incredible reviews.
The star in me set out to make a dent in the workplace gender gap and they are making waves already.
Founder details:
Uma Kasoji – uma.kasoji@thestarinme.com
Mahua Mukherjee – mahua.mukherjee@thestarinme.com
Media Contact
The star in me uma.kasoji@thestarinme.com 919866001170 REGUS, 8TH FLOOR, SLN TERMINUS, SURVEY #133, GACHIBOWLI, HYD https://thestarinme.com
