Sewa Director Reema Nanavaty Honoured with Hillary Rodham Clinton Award at Georgetown University

Key facts

• Indian social worker Reema Nanavaty, director of the Self-Employed Women's Association (Sewa), received the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for her work in empowering women workers, improving food security and expanding access to sustainable energy.
• Former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the award at Georgetown University in Washington during a ceremony hosted by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.
• Sewa, founded in 1972 by Ela Bhatt, is India's largest trade union of informal sector workers and represents more than two million self-employed women under Nanavaty's leadership.
• Nanavaty led Sewa's food security programme supporting over one million households and the Hariyali Green Energy and Livelihoods Initiative providing affordable clean energy to low-income women workers.
• Nanavaty received the Padma Shri in 2013 for her contributions to society.
• The 2026 Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards also honoured Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, and fashion designer Tory Burch, while Muna Sukhtian of Jordan's Microfund for Women received the Georgetown Ambassadors Award.