Just two weeks ago, I was introduced to Shivani, and Payal Verma, two of our women drivers. Immediately, I was struck by the raw courage of these single mothers, who frequently drive on Delhi’s streets late into the night. Given the safety reputation of our capital, I was humbled by Shivani’s courage: “I have my own daily target, and until that’s met, I don’t stop driving, no matter what time it is.”

As you will see in this accompanying video story, I was touched by how proud their children were of their parents’ accomplishments. Payal realizes how much her children really looked up to her: “I’ve never had a shortage of money. My daughters are extremely proud of the work I do. They proudly tell their friends their mother is a successful driver with Uber.”

The power of these words brought a lump to my throat.  Just a few courageous women are transforming the way we think as a society. With every late night ride, both Shivani and Payal are blowing away stereotypes, empowering other women, but most significantly, they’re building a more equitable India.

Since building a more equitable world is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, I feel very privileged to share their story with you. 

I would also like to introduce another role model, Vani Priya, who’s an Uber Dost to you all. Uber Dosts earn their livelihood by making a commission for every driver they get to join the platform and Vani is one of our highest earning entrepreneurs, who makes at least Rs 150,000 every month. What she loves best about working for us is flexibility she now enjoys: “I am able to spend time with my son. I am able to support my husband. I drop him off at his workplace everyday. It makes my parents very proud too.’’

We’re just as proud of Vani, who we all affectionately now call `Queen of Dosts.’ Besides Vani, we’re just as proud of all the hundreds of women drivers and courier partners on our platform and every single one of our women executives. 

As a corporate leader, who is committed to building a more equitable world, allow me to pledge on this International Women’s Day that I will push all my leaders to do more faster to make Uber more equitable for women. I firmly believe a perfect 50-50 gender balance across teams and in leadership is attainable by the best Indian companies in the coming decade. 

Today, I’ll make another solemn promise to talk less and do much more, as we are doing with Uber Eats in Sri Lanka. Here, we already have more than 100 women courier partners on our platform. To mark International Women’s Day and as part of our Diviyata Diriya initiative, which enables equal access to flexible economic opportunities, we just honored these partners at a very special celebration in Colombo.

We believe our heartfelt support and acknowledgment will energize them all to get more of their women friends to join our platform. Today, we are honored as a company to commit that we will onboard 1,000 women entrepreneurs on Uber Eats in Sri Lanka this year alone. My colleague, Bhavna Dadlani, who leads Uber Eats in Sri Lanka, is leading us from the front on this mission. 

As a company, we believe empowering women is perhaps the single greatest enablers of development and economic growth. Today, I join all my Uber colleagues in celebrating India’s women and in appreciating how they’re helping us build a stronger nation and a better world.

#Uber On