Udbhavi Balakrishna, a second year BA student at Bengaluru’s National School of Journalism and Public Discourse (NSoJ), has been chosen for the 2021 Study of the US Institutes (SUSI) Women’s Leadership Institute. She is one of the four Indian women chosen for this position and will be joining with 87 other women from 23 different nations on an empowering, motivating, and educational women’s leadership journey.
The Women’s Global Leadership Consortium (WGLC), a collaboration between the University of Delaware, Green River College, the University of Kansas, and Saint Mary’s College, is implementing the SUSI Institute programme. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State funds SUSI programmes.
Udbhavi hails from Mangaluru and speaking about her journey she told News Karnataka that, “I did my PUC from St. Aloysius before moving to Bengaluru to do my Bachelors in Journalism. During those days, I always stood out in school as someone who took on responsibilities, organised things, and so on. I was also a volunteer of ‘Make a Difference,’ a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of children living in shelters. I worked as an English instructor at a shelter near Nanthoor for a year.”
College authorities selected her for this programme in 2019 but because of the pandemic, the training programme got postponed. Speaking further, Udbhavi said that, “I wasn’t expecting it since I’ve always assumed that there are more deserving people out there. I’ve only recently started my career as a student journalist. I still have a lot to learn. There was a lot of euphoria since I couldn’t believe I’d been chosen. To be sure, I had to read it again and over again.”
When asked about what the training is all about, she stated that the programme aims at arming the students with different leadership tools and theories. “There are a variety of leadership programmes within SUSI, including education, cultural exchange, and so on. They will mostly focus on women’s issues and teach us various leadership ideas and put us in situations where we can apply them into practise while also planning how to implement them in our country.”
She also mentioned that she attends a virtual workshop every Friday, and the online sessions of the programme will commence from July 12th to July 29th. “My college and parents have been very supportive. If everything goes well, we may be required to travel to our individual host institutes in the US and stay for two weeks for the training,” she added.
Udbhavi is of the opinion that there are only very few women who take on leadership responsibilities. This could be because of the way our society is built, they are either not allowed to or do not end up in that situation. “I noted that in the urban area, there has been some improvement in terms of education, employment, and so on. However, the situation in rural area is not the same. Women don’t know about their rights and are unaware that they can obtain an education as well. I’m hoping that anything I learn here can be put into practise at a grassroot level and have an impact on society, resulting in large-scale changes,” she stressed.
Climate change, gender-based violence, poverty, inequality, issues affecting children and women and the education and financial independence of rural women in India are all issues that drives Udbhavi into contributing to the society.
Expressing the happiness Prof. Simon Varghese, Principal, NSoJ said that, “Udbhavi’s exemplary performances in academic and extracurricular activities at NSoJ made her the natural choice for this prestigious fellowship. I am sure she would add value and vision to the programme.”
She ends by saying that her ambition is to work as a writer and researcher for organisations such as Reporters Sans Frontières or Human Rights Watch, where she can write about local concerns, public policy, social action, and institutional change.
