Manjiri Gokhale Joshi - Great Companies Women Entrepreneur Award Winner 2022

Manjiri Gokhale Joshi: Maya CARE Foundation

Name: Manjiri Gokhale Joshi

Business Name: Maya CARE Foundation

Location: Pune, India

Establishment (Year): 2014

Profession/ Specialty: Leadership Trainer and social entrepreneur

Website : www.mayacare.org

Socail Media : LinkedIn

Company Detail:

Since April 2020, after moving on from her last job as CEO of a training company, Manjiri has been focusing on developing a team of persons with disability to take on leadership roles at our charity Maya CARE Foundation, which has provided 10,600 free visits to the elderly since the last 12 years. Over the past 12 years, Manjiri and the co-founders at Maya CARE have nurtured people with no experience or relevant education, to deliver professionally run, high impact projects including the design and distribution of 41,000 co-branded masks to old age homes and key workers across India.

Highlights:

1. Team Maya CARE comprising a visually impaired and two wheelchair-bound professionals became the first team of persons with disability to ever-present at the 47-year-old All-India Management Association (AIMA) competition for young managers.

2. Vaccination project managed by 30 persons with varying disabilities - visually impaired persons making calls to the elderly, hearing impaired searching for data, learning disabilities conducting online registration and led by a wheelchair-bound lady from Chandrapur.

Unique Selling Proposition / Competitive Advantage:

Maya CARE is the world's only organization providing free support to the elderly while empowering persons with disabilities to build careers and be leaders.

Challenges Faced During The Journey:

As a social entrepreneur, lack of funding, support for an "unglamorous" cause like the elderly and seeking a team to demonstrate the passion needed were a few. These were overcome by immense family support, says Mrs Manjiri Gokhale Joshi who is her beloved husband Abhay Joshi and her late mother Dr Vidya Gokhale, both co-founders of Maya CARE.

Now, she has a passionate team of 100 persons with disabilities en route to lead Maya CARE.

Advice For Other Women Entrepreneurs:

Mrs Manjiri Gokhale Joshi has been interviewed on this subject several times and she will always give the same advice - "If you are under 30, prepare to be an entrepreneur by gaining skills and experience. If you are above 30, take the plunge now!"