Livelihoods with dignity for women

Women With wheels

The Women With Wheels programme empowers resource-poor women to become professional drivers to enable them to gain remunerative ‘livelihoods with dignity’...

Programme impact

The transformation towards empowerment the Women With Wheels trainees achieve is irreversible. The programme enables women to identify the power within themselves....

Today, Shanti is a commercial chauffer with Sakha. Quite and confident she inspires confidence in her clients and is a[...]
Rajkumari is a 22-year-old woman from Jahangirpuri in North Delhi. Rajkumari wanted to be a police officer but she had[...]
My name is Chandni, and I have studied up to the 10th standard. I live in Govindpuri, Navjeevan camp. At[...]
Watch Geeta’s story as an online documentary at www.geetasworld.com
Chand is from a conservative Muslim family. She was married off to a truck driver at a young age and[...]
A determined young lady from Ahmedabad, Deepali has exceeded her life expectations in becoming a professional driver. Deepali’s father is[...]

Stories of courage

Why women decide to join the Women With Wheels programme? What challenges they need to overcome and what impact the programme has on their lives?

Friday 8 March 2019
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT TOWARDS QUEEN OF ROCK

Azad Foundation and Sakha Consulting Wings in association with CAPED staged the play 'Queen of[..]
Friday 8 March 2019
International Conference for Making Non-Traditional Livelihoods Work for the Marginalized

The 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicates that “development will only be sustainable[..]
Saturday 25 August 2018
Azad Foundation launches Ram Mohan Scholarship for single women

27th July, Another significant day for Azad Foundation as it launched the Ram Mohan Scholarship[..]
Saturday 25 August 2018
Azad and Sakha celebrate 10 years of its glorious journey

Azad Foundation is celebrating its 10th year of empowering women as professional chauffeurs. The organization[..]
Saturday 25 August 2018
Sakha awarded second highest grant by booking cares.com

In 2017, Booking.com, an online travel and accommodation facility providing company, launched Booking Booster to[..]
Saturday 25 August 2018
Azad at MenEngage Africa Symposium in Mozambique

Azad Foundation participated in the 2nd MenEngage Africa Symposium held at Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo,[..]
Wednesday 1 August 2018
Parvaz Feminist Leadership Programme 2017-2018

The second batch of The Parvaz Feminist Leadership Programme #AbSamjhautaNahin supported by Vivel, graduated at[..]
Thursday 15 March 2018
Thank you message for all of you who support us

Your encouragement, financial support, time and energy you give as volunteers means so much…
Thursday 15 March 2018
Bringing Women With Wheels to north Kolkata

We’re delighted to share that we have opened up a brand new training centre for[..]
Thursday 15 March 2018
We have been rising against violence on women, for women’s property rights

Over the last three months, we have been rising across Kolkata, Jaipur and Delhi against[..]
Tuesday 19 December 2017
Women With Wheels driving their way into the world of valets at 5 star hotels!

In Delhi, Kolkata, and Indore, women with wheels are now working as valets at 5[..]
Friday 10 November 2017
Meeting HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

Drivers trained through our programme Women With Wheels - Poonam, Khushi and Rakhi and our[..]
Friday 22 September 2017
Men Complete Gender Justice Training

On 29 May - 2 June 2017, 36 young men that are part of our[..]
Thursday 3 August 2017
Hear the voices of change

We are delighted to present the Azad Foundation Annual Report for 2016-17 telling you about[..]
Thursday 3 August 2017
First group of feminist community leaders graduated on 16 July 2017 in Delhi

The very first batch of 20 bright and energetic feminist community leaders trained under our[..]
Monday 22 May 2017
Women With Wheels graduates hired by Indore’s Municipal Corporation

Women drivers trained through the Women With Wheels programme by our partner Samaan Society have[..]
Friday 16 December 2016
Mamma Mia! Again – A Fund Raising Musical

Mamma Mia! Again, a breathtaking and unique theatrical production, a perfect synergy (must I admit,[..]
Monday 15 August 2016
Saritha’s drive encourages DTC to hire more women

Very thrilled to see DTC pursuing hiring of more female bus drivers in partnership with[..]
Monday 15 August 2016
One year. Hundreds of lives changed.

Last year was a special one for Azad, filled with many important milestones. We developed[..]
Wednesday 29 June 2016
Statement on the death of Bharathi Veerath

Azad Foundation’ statement on the death of Bharathi Veerath, Bengaluru's First Woman Cab Driver The[..]
Tuesday 21 June 2016
Recommendations on Draft National Policy for Women – 2016 (India)

We have submitted our recommendations as part of the consultation on Draft National Policy for[..]
Tuesday 24 May 2016
Karwan – Lady driver: stories of change

We have been working on writing up 12 stories of the women who have become[..]
Friday 1 April 2016
Sakha Cabs for Women by Women now in Jaipur

We are delighted to announce that Sakha Cabs for Women are now also available for[..]
Thursday 31 March 2016
New funding partnership with Mahindra Finance

We are delighted that Mahindra Finance has become one of our new funding partners to[..]
Thursday 31 March 2016
A new chapter for Women With Wheels

22 women drivers trained by Azad are now working at the Delhi Commission for Women's[..]
Friday 12 February 2016
Our driver Kushi in NYT!

We're delighted to see the story of Kushi and a video of her made by[..]
Thursday 11 February 2016
Our raising against violence against women

Since November we have been raising against violence against women as part of global One[..]
Thursday 11 February 2016
Launch of Women With Wheels in Kolkata

To celebrate One Billion Rising global campaing to end violence against women, we bring you[..]
Sunday 20 December 2015
Meet India’s courageous women cab drivers

Shanno Begum never dreamt that she would become a cab driver. A single mother, she[..]
Saturday 19 December 2015
All donations to Azad doubled during December! Please donate today

Every day, Azad team is meeting so many women who need a helping hand to[..]
Wednesday 2 December 2015
Sakha on Monocle24 radio show!

Our sister company Sakha Consulting Wings was featured in a UK radio Monocle24 in The[..]
Saturday 7 November 2015
Azad’s work acknowledged by UNESCO

UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok visited our Women on Wheels programme as part of the[..]
Friday 6 November 2015
A hope that never faded

AJWS, one of our donors enabling us to increasingly empower more women as professional drivers[..]
Friday 6 November 2015
Women with drive

As female commercial drivers become more visible on roads, they not only score a point[..]
Sunday 16 August 2015
Azad Academy changes lives from Ahmedabad to Dharamshala

Our ambition here at Azad isto reach out to many more potential women drivers and[..]
Friday 31 July 2015
Cabs by women for women in Calcutta

Even as the market for radio taxi players hots up, an organisation is quietly launching[..]
Friday 31 July 2015
Now even cabs are too dangerous for Indian women

Public transport for women in India was not ideal long before the horrific gang rape on[..]
Sunday 14 June 2015
INDORE WOMEN LEARN TO SPEED AHEAD IN LIFE

The Women on Wheels (WOW) programme in in Indore got off to a kickstart on[..]
Wednesday 10 June 2015
Netherlands PM promotes women driven cabs in New Delhi

Visiting Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday (June 05) hired Sakha women driven cabs[..]
Sunday 24 May 2015
DTC gets its first woman bus driver

In a move described as a major contribution to women’s empowerment, the Delhi Transport Corporation[..]
Thursday 18 December 2014
Social Enterprise Buzz

A great wave of anger swept over India since the rape and murder of a[..]
Thursday 18 December 2014
Russian Radio

All-women taxi service is becoming popular in the Indian capital in the wake of last[..]
Thursday 18 December 2014
The Nation

Chandni elegantly steers her white taxi cab through New Delhi's snarled traffic. She slips past[..]
Thursday 18 December 2014
Daily Bhaskar

A recent fund-raising exhibition attended by Bollywood actor, Sridevi turned out to be a pleasant[..]
Friday 21 November 2014
Bolega India

The bollywood diva Sri Devi was recently in the capital to inaugurate the third edition[..]
Friday 21 November 2014
The Times of India

Satya Kashyap (38) loves driving but what keeps her on the road at night is[..]
Friday 21 November 2014
Tribeca Film Institute

Our first Storytelling Innovation Lab with Mozilla took place May 13-17 under the Tribeca Hacks[..]
Friday 21 November 2014
The Indian Express

Your movements are being tracked. Sounds ominous? But then it’s all for a good cause.[..]
Friday 21 November 2014
Steering through the gender barrier

A Delhi-based NGO is training women to be chauffeurs but finding them jobs requires getting[..]

Get Involved

Donate

Facebook

AZAD FOUNDATION

About Us

Started in May 2008 as an incorporated Trust in Delhi, the basis of Azad Foundation (AF) emerges from the persistent gender inequities in India and the strong needto demonstrate engendered and high-return livelihood options for poor urban women.