Nibedita: A guiding light for women’s empowerment

Nibedita is a non-profit organisation founded by Anika Islam in 2018, which aims for women empowerment. It provides free training for women in digital marketing skills, entrepreneurship, lifestyle modification, and career placement. 

"As I began my undergraduate education, I was also working at Robi as a customer apprentice in 2012. I wanted to be financially independent," shares Anika. "My father was unaware of this, since he wanted me to focus on my education only."

She has completed her MBA degree. She is also an influencer who endorses many renowned brands professionally.

Nibedita started out with 100 women, and soon, the community began to grow. Currently, it has 36,000 active female members, moderated by students voluntarily.

"Our focus is to empower women and bring equality and equity amongst them," says Anika. "It has not been an easy road for me. I faced a lot of criticism, predominantly from women, who tried to break my confidence at different levels."

 Nibedita organised numerous training programmes on soft skills, CV writing, trade licensing, and business loans, free of cost for women.

In partnership with BCC, the ICT Division and LIC, Nibedita provided free certification courses from Coursera. "During the pandemic a lot of women reached out to me asking for ideas on how they can build a start-up and develop their skills," says Anika. "Some participants completed up to 70 courses."

Nibedita worked on the Idea Project by the ICT Division, and it has formed a collaboration with Hi-Tech Park for three years. The Nibedita Women Summit 2019 was organised in association with Daraz, Brac Bank, and UNB. It was Nibedita's first official, largescale event.

Commemorating Women's Day and Women's History Month, "Nibedita Equalizer 2022" will be held today at Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden with the tagline, "break the biasness". In association with Digital Bangladesh, Hi-Tech Park, ICT Division, and The Daily Star, the event will honour 10 young influential women from different sectors.

Among other things, "Nibedita Equalizer 2022" will feature sessions on mental health and emotional intelligence, marketing and communication impacts on business, inclusivity and leadership, focusing on breaking the biasness, following by a cultural programme.

The author is a Reporter, Arts & Entertainment, The Daily Star. Email: sharmin@thedailystar.net.