Women’s Empowerment Campaign Chicago hosts Presidential Candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Women’s Empowerment Campaign Chicago hosts

Presidential Candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard



Chicago IL: The Women’s Empowerment Campaign (WE) hosted Congresswomen and Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard at a networking event on February 9 in Naperville, IL.

Rep. Gabbard is the first Hindu woman to run for president. Hosting leaders such as Rep. Gabbard fits in with the group’s goals of supporting women community leaders. It was the first visit of Gabbard outside of Hawaii after her announcement the presidential campaign.

‘The greatest attribute that anyone could have is love for their country because that is truly beyond themselves and not related to any other self-interest. When I promised to serve my country in the military I really meant it,’ said Rep. Gabbard. One remarkable moment in her political career came when she asked to use the Gita instead of the usual Bible for her swearing-in ceremony for the US Congress.

The Women’s Empowerment Campaign was designed to create the largest networking and empowerment platform for Indian women in Chicagoland. Some of the goals identified by the group include supporting entrepreneurship in the Indian women community, showcasing and highlighting women business-owners and professionals, raising awareness of existing resources and services in the community, celebrating successful Indian women and supporting women leaders in the community.

The initiative was founded last year. It has a membership of more than 1500. They conducted a few successful events including the first women’s business awards, women’s business expo, women’s job fair and a big gala to celebrate international Women’s Day.

The principals of the campaign include founders Rita Singh, Shital Daftari and Dr. Anuja Gupta. ‘We had reached a point in our lives where we felt blessed by the community support we had and wanted to do something to give back to the community,’ said Dr. Anuja Gupta who is a physician and real estate developer of Verandah Retirement Community. Shital Daftari who is an e-commerce business owner of Saris and Things had a different perspective, ‘we wanted to showcase the power of Indian women. I also wanted to inspire women to take the first step to living a life of their dreams and reaching their highest potential.’ Rita Singh who is an IT business owner and also has experience in show business says, ‘I had a very gratifying experience mentoring other people who wanted to start their own business and wanted to do it on a larger scale through this platform. I wanted to make a meaningful difference in the Indian community.’

‘As women’s empowerment advocates and as Hindu women we could not be prouder to support Tulsi,’ added WE Founder Dr. Anuja Gupta