Indian social worker Reema Nanavaty, Director of the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA), has received the 2026 Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for her work advancing women’s economic empowerment, strengthening livelihoods, improving food security and expanding access to renewable energy. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the honour to Nanavaty at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, on October 15.
The award, presented by Clinton and Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS), recognises exceptional leadership in advancing women’s rights and building more peaceful and secure communities. Nanavaty was honoured alongside fashion entrepreneur Tory Burch and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
A Lifetime Of Women-Led Change
Nanavaty’s work has focused on women working in India’s informal economy, many of whom earn through self-employment without the protections associated with formal jobs. Under her leadership, SEWA has grown into India’s largest union of informal-sector workers, with its work spanning energy, agriculture, food processing, waste recycling and textiles.
Rather than viewing women only as beneficiaries of welfare, her approach has centred on helping them become owners, entrepreneurs and decision-makers within their own communities. Nanavaty has also led efforts to rebuild livelihoods after natural disasters and supported rehabilitation programmes in crisis-affected Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
Why Economic Independence Matters
Nanavaty’s work reflects a broader development principle: women’s economic security can influence the resilience of entire households and communities. Her initiatives include SEWA’s food-security programme, which covers around one million households, and the Hariyali Green Energy and Livelihoods Initiative, which seeks to connect women with renewable-energy solutions while creating livelihood opportunities.
The World Bank identifies Nanavaty’s expertise in gender and notes her long-standing focus on full employment and self-reliance among informal women workers. Her work has included helping women gain access to markets and technology, including digital tools and online platforms that can expand their economic opportunities.
Clean Energy, Better Livelihoods
Nanavaty has also argued that energy access should not be treated simply as an infrastructure issue. In a UN discussion on energy, she highlighted SEWA’s approach of making rural women not only consumers but also producers, managers and entrepreneurs in the clean-energy economy. Its initiatives have included women-managed solar projects, energy enterprises, solar pumps and other technologies supporting farmers and micro-entrepreneurs. The UN has documented SEWA’s view that combining energy access with finance, skills and livelihood opportunities can help reduce poverty while creating new forms of work.
From Gujarat To Global Recognition
Nanavaty joined SEWA in 1984 and was elected its General Secretary in 1999. The World Bank says she has worked with the organisation across areas including women’s self-reliance, technology, markets and economic organisation, and has represented informal, self-employed and rural workers in international policy discussions. Her contribution was recognised in India with the Padma Shri in 2013.
The Hillary Rodham Clinton Award now adds another international recognition to decades of work centred on women whose contributions to the economy are often overlooked because much of their labour takes place outside formal employment structures.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
Nanavaty’s journey offers an important lesson about what meaningful empowerment can look like: not simply providing assistance to women, but creating conditions in which they can earn, organise, own assets, access technology and have a greater say in decisions affecting their lives. Her work also shows why development cannot be separated from dignity. Food security, clean energy, decent livelihoods and economic independence are interconnected parts of a person’s ability to live with security and choice.
At a time when millions of women continue to work in informal and vulnerable conditions, what can governments, businesses and communities do to move beyond welfare and create more opportunities for women to become the architects of their own futures?
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