"I come here to plant a seed": Smriti Irani lays out vision for women's empowerment at TIME100

At the TIME100 event, Smriti Irani represented India and endorsed her initiative, SPARK The 100k Collective, to empower one lakh women entrepreneurs across the cities in India and also conducted its event in New Delhi recently.

Former Union Minister and one of the TV veterans, Smriti Irani, has been making headlines ever since her return to TV with 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2.0'. From bringing Bill Gates to her show Kyuki 2.0 to representing India on the global stage at the TIME100 event. She took some time off amid shoots and participated at the SPARK The 100k Collective.

At the TIME100 event, Smriti Irani represented India and endorsed her initiative, SPARK The 100k Collective, which she launched to empower one lakh women entrepreneurs across the cities in India and also conducted its event in New Delhi recently.

The 'Spark' initiative has worked to create a 360-degree ecosystem that rests on six key sub-initiatives, focusing on providing relevant skill sets to women entrepreneurs.

Her impactful speech and effort echoed with the global community at the TIME forum and also highlighted her journey from humble beginnings to becoming one of India’s most influential voices.

In a moving moment, she talked about her roots and said, “They say life comes full circle, and it has indeed for me tonight. Forty-two years ago, on the streets of New Delhi, my father, a bookseller, sold second-hand Time magazines, which he bought from a scrap dealer, all so that he could earn two dollars a day to raise a family of three girls. So tonight, as I stand amongst you, I stand here because not only do I have hard-working parents, but also somebody helped me get an education, somebody paid me a fair wage, and somebody helped me become a political voice in my country.”

Representing the voices of millions of Indian women, Irani highlighted the power and potential of India’s female workforce.

“There are 400 million women back home like me. Ninety million of them work in villages and every year have a turnover of 37 billion dollars in the small businesses they run. 1.5 million women in my country are elected to office in panchayats, which you all call town councils. Six million women go to work every day as frontline healthcare workers.”

Introducing her global vision through SPARK The 100k Collective, Irani shared her mission with conviction and hope: “As somebody who has sparked a little collective, I come here to plant a seed. In India, two women, including me, wanted to reach out to 100,000 women in very small businesses. We wanted to help fellow Indians and not wait only for governments to come and rescue us. So, we decided we will reach out in 300 cities, 100,000 women to begin with, reach a million, and create a hundred-million-dollar impact fund—and then somebody said, "Could you take this to 56 countries?" and we said, "Hell yes." So, I am here to plant a seed.”

Closing her speech, she made a heartfelt appeal to the leaders around the world: “My only appeal is this—women control 30 trillion dollars of consumer spending in the world but own only one out of three businesses and struggle with a 20 per cent gap in pay. So while you have the courage to lead for your own dreams and your ambition, please find the courage to become the voice of the voiceless.”

Through her work with SPARK The 100k Collective, Smriti Irani is more than an advocate, she is the driving force behind a new movement for women.