Rising Beyond the Ceiling

About Rising Beyond the Ceiling

An initiative to shine the spotlight on 100 million Indian Muslim women, their leadership and contributions in Independent India, as well as research about their demographics, socioeconomic indicators and trends.

Vision & Approach

The mission of Rising Beyond The Ceiling (RBTC) is to shine a spotlight on the cohort of 100 million Indian Muslim women, their leadership, contributions and achievements in Independent India as well as demographics, socioeconomic indicators and trends. The purpose is to inspire and educate, as well as develop policy and programme recommendations for their empowerment and development.
The 100 women selected are envisaged to capture the diversity across ages, socioeconomic backgrounds and different sectors/professions. Attempt has been made to made to bring to life both iconic and lesser known female figures from across geographical state boundaries . The following 11 categories have been curated: (1) Inspirations from politics; (2) Achieving academic excellence; (3) Shattering stereotypes ; (4) Making an impact through media; (5) Creative contributors to the arts ; (6) Leadership in administration; (7) Change makers in the social sector; (8) Professionals building the nation; (9)Strides in the corporate world; (10) Taking forward entrepreneurship; (11) Impassioned Authors and Poets. A separate page of early inspirations, women no longer with us today as well as emerging youth leaders is also developed.
The initiative aspires to collaborate with partners across the country to develop Rising Beyond The Ceiling compendiums of inspiring Muslim women at all the state levels, and later at district levels. An annual RBTC update is also planned each year. It is hoped that every woman and girl will find someone who moves her, someone whose presence in the highest reaches of success says to her that it is possible to climb, come on up, the view is spectacular.

Strategy & Products

Rising Beyond the Ceiling publication and e-book with profiles Muslim women from all across India.
Illustrated Book for Children: Simple illuminating text paired wit illustrations in children’s book format with an inspirational story for a young girls, taking a selection of eleven biographies. Publication and e-book formats, including translations in various Indian languages is planned.
Multi-Media Compendium: The will include multi-media clips including interviews with selected women which will be recorded will be put together in an online interactive compendium. The interviews will be conducted using a systematic questionnaire to solicit stories from the individual's life experience as well as core message/s for the next generation.
Research and Analytics: The population of Muslim women in India is estimated to be 100 million today. This is a large cohort, larger than many countries in the world and many Indian states. However, there is limited research, data and analysis on this demographic. This initiative curates research, analytics and evidence on the the socioeconomic and development trends among Indian Muslim women. A compendium of studies and publications on this subject is being put together to build a repertoire of evidence and information to inform policy and programming.
State level Rising Beyond The Ceiling compendiums: The one hundred women comprise only a very small sliver of Muslim women in India. The initiative aspires to continue to add "RBTC 100" compendiums for all states in India, and later at district levels to continue to celebrate and document inspirational stories of women and girls across the country.

Research Methodology

The compendium of inspiring Rising Beyond the Ceiling Women has been put together through various ways. An initial database was developed using crowd-sourcing and research information. While details of individuals are available on the internet such as on their Wikipedia page, in news stories, social media and linked-in profiles, award listings, organizational/personal websites and others, there is no compilation of Indian Muslim women profiles, making this the first ever on the subject.
The project approach and criteria was put shared with various groups and networks through Whatsapp/emails and personal phone calls. Individuals, from different sectors and groups were invited to share the names of women that they would consider as role models. The database continued to be expanded, including with suggestions from women who were themselves identified as role models. In sectors where there were no or few names further outreach was conducted with sector specialists to solicit names. Another source was through researching was selected lists such as Padmashri recipients, list of civil service officers, list of awardees, memberships, sports, others.
The database compiled was sorted and categorized in the project themes as in the approach. A standard format was developed to research for each individual through online and other fact checking of references to develop the individual summaries presented here. The format also included a personal feedback/rating by the research team on their perspective on the individual as a role model. From the compiled database the 100 inspiring women were curated. The criteria includes women with Indian nationality, those who identify themselves as Muslims, belong to diverse backgrounds and socio-economic strata, are of all ages from seniors seasoned achievers to new leaders, as from different professional backgrounds and have been recognized for their contributions as a role model for women/girls.
The brief summaries developed are based on researched references and data. All the photographs used in this project have either been received from the individuals or sourced from the internet and the reference/source for each is noted and available. Several of the hundred Rising Beyond the Ceiling Women contacted for this project have provided inputs, including their achievements as well as suggested other names of inspirational women.
All the women are invited to participate in the multi-media platform , video interviews as well as contribute towards the cause of women's empowerment, leadership and gender equality in India. The project is expected to continue to reach more and more women for their suggestions, participation in the interviews and engagement in other project activities over the years.

Rising Beyond the Ceiling acknowledges seed funding from SAFAR (Supporting Action For Advancement & Rights). The funding will support administrative costs including website development, children's book and multi-media platform.
SAFAR Stands for 'Supporting Action For Advancement & Rights'. The Hindustani word “safar” (सफर) means “a journey”. The vision of SAFAR is a journey towards empowerment and rights of the poor, marginalized and under-served citizens, in particular women and girls. SAFAR, established in May 2002, is a philanthropic development organization and is registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act 1860. The organization is funded through a generous one-time endowment and annual recurring contributions from a family asset. The donor family and individuals are committed to development in their home state of Uttar Pradesh/India. However, they seek to remain anonymous. SAFAR provides funding to triggering projects and initiatives which are strategic, high impact and complementary to the work of the government to partners and individuals to facilitate empowerment and rights of citizens, in particular women and girls. The focus of SAFAR is in areas that are falling behind in human development indicators in India.