The Women4Climate Tell Your Story campaign aims to champion the role ofwomen as agents of change in the climate space, highlight their climate projects
and tell the inspirational stories behind them.
Dr. Lata Ghanshamnani’s projects are profoundly inspiring for their positive impacts on
the environment and the communities she works with in Mumbai, India. Her story
brilliantly illustrates that inclusive climate action resides within each of us and that wecan all use our platforms to address the challenges we encounter.
"All of us need to feel in the emergency,” she says. “We have spoken enough. We haveenough proof of concepts and pilot projects. The time has come to scale them up.”

Women4Climate Mumbai mentee Dr. Lata Ghanshamnani.

Dr. Ghanshamnani is a trained medical engineer and has been practising medicine for25 years, initially without any particular interest in sustainability. Ten years ago, whilst
working in a community garden, Dr. Ghanshamnani observed that large quantities ofleaves were regularly burnt. Alarmed by the inefficient management of this waste, shewas convinced that there was a better way to dispose of it.
After her experience in the community garden, she soon realised how much waste she
was creating whilst practising medicine. Inspired to make a personal change, shefounded a project at the intersection of gender, waste and the environment. The "Sakhi"

project – “Sakhi” meaning ‘female friend’ in Hindi - deals solely with menstrual health,hygiene and sustainable menstrual practice.
Dr. Ghanshamnani’s project significantly reduces menstrual waste by both educating
and raising awareness among communities about the use and promotion of menstrual
cups. She runs workshops in centres and trains the staff to become trainers themselves.
Each workshop ends with menstrual cups being distributed to attendees, with freeresources provided to women and girls who cannot afford period products.
The "Sakhi" project follows up with members of the programme, in-person and digitally,in an array of local languages. Dr. Ghanshamnani’s relationship with the community andher training as a doctor are key to gaining the trust of those involved in the project andto the overall success of “Sakhi”.
Being a Women4Climate mentee gave Dr. Ghanshamnani a platform to discusssustainability and feminist-oriented ideas with like-minded peers and connect withthose with projects that “swim against the tide.”“It is inspiring and encouraging to meet activists from different backgrounds,” she says.
“This is invaluable, especially in India, where women do not have access to the rightplatforms to contribute meaningfully to policy-making.”
Dr. Ghanshamnani also emphasises the fact that she lacked the initial skills to develop
an effective project, such as communication and project management skills. The
support she has received from her Women4Climate mentor means she can fill thesegaps in her knowledge and experience, which will help her to realise her full potential.
Dr. Ghanshamnani says she has “learned so much from Women4Climate, and hopes tolearn more as the programme continues.”

Learn more about Ghanshamnani's work on: Website or LinkedIn
To learn more about gender mainstreaming in inclusive climate action approaches, take the free
Women4Climate 4-week online course, "Developing Skills for Women Leadership in ClimateAction"