How many times do you make a plan with your female colleagues and friends in the evening? Are you still apprehensive about travelling in a cab or using the public transport alone? These are some obvious questions that are unintentionally ingrained in us. UN Women states that 1 in 3 women face some kind of sexual assault at least once in their lifetime. However the statistics in India are much higher with a rape occurring in every 20 mins.
Elsa D’Silva, an aviation professional shares with us her story and drive towards making India a safer place for women. She encourages women across the country to acknowledge sexual harassment and support them through awareness, interaction and education. She is the Managing Director for the Safecity initiative, a platform that crowdsources personal stories of sexual harassment and abuse in public spaces. It aggregates data which maybe anonymous as hot spots on a map indicating trends at a local level. Safecity aims to make cities safer by encouraging equal access to public spaces for everyone especially women, through the use of crowdsourced data and technology.
Q: Tell us something about your family and childhood?
A: I grew up in Mumbai and my parents were very supportive of me throughout my education and career.
I graduated in English Literature and joined Jet Airways as a flight attendant shortly thereafter. I quickly rose up the ranks and was soon training pilots and cabin crew safety and emergency procedures. I went through a unique internal management trainee programme and was exposed to the other areas of the business apart from Inflight. As a result I got an assignment in Revenue Management which was highly strategic. After spending 11 years with Jet Airways, I was head hunted by Kingfisher Airlines to head Revenue Management and Pricing. But in a startup environment, one ends up doing multiple things and so did I – network and route planning, groups and charters, reservations, e-commerce and business development.
My last portfolio was Vice President Network Planning and Charters. It was a great learning experience as we were an agile startup which had the best product till date in Indian aviation. I was also a key player during the acquisition and merger of Air Deccan as we had to integrate two large airline networks that overlapped on many routes but were catering to different groups of people. I believe we did a great job in a very difficult environment. I was also a key member in the international planning team and was responsible for acquiring 2 precious slots at London Heathrow which is practically unheard of for a fairly new airline.
I worked very closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and represented Kingfisher at various important meeting to discuss route expansion within India and overseas, strengthening the bilateral agreements and regional route plans. Overall it was a great period. At the end, I guided my team in downsizing the operations to ensure least stress to our guests and our internal teams.
In 2012, Kingfisher was going through a financial downturn and by the end of the year the airline had shut down. I was very fortunate that I was selected to attend the Swedish Institute Management program that focused on CSR and Sustainability in Business. It got me thinking about my future and I knew for sure that I wanted a change of scene from the corporate world where I had already spent 20 years. I wanted to move to the development sector and this program helped me think through the process, what issue I wanted to focus on and how I would get there.
Mid December there was a horrific rape in Delhi where a young woman was brutally beaten and gang raped.
That incident got me thinking more deeply about the issue of sexual violence and I was reminded of the many incidents that I had faced but never taken any action on. So it made it urgent for me to work on this issue. I launched Safecity with a couple of my friends.
Q: Did you experience any failures? How did you handle them and what did you learn from them?
A: I would say that I worked extremely hard to move up the career ladder from a flight attendant to Vice President Network Planning which is a very strategic and important department in any airline. I used to face quite a bit of pushback from my colleagues (mainly male) but never thought it was anything to do with my gender. It motivated me to work even harder and prove myself. But a senior colleague once told me that I was still being perceived as a flight attendant and therefore incapable of doing the job. To me that was a surprise because additionally I had acquired an MBA and diplomas from prestigious institutions on Personnel Management as well as Training and Development apart from Industry specific courses on Revenue Management and Network Planning.
I have always worked with a clear focus and decided my own goals and diligently and persistently worked towards them. Anything else is all noise. So take note of criticism and then improve your own work.
With Safecity it was huge learning as well. After 20 years in corporate and in a single industry – aviation, I made the switch to a completely new area. Everyone around me thought I was crazy.
I did doubt myself for a while but then always reminded myself I could go back to a corporate job if I failed. But I was open to learning, unlearning and relearning a lot.
I also was able to use the skills I had gathered along the way in my current role of managing Safecity and taking it from an idea and a project to a full-fledged organization registered as a Section 8 not for profit company.
Q: Mentoring is crucial to women’s growth says Research. Who have been mentors in your life?
A: Mentoring is absolutely crucial. I had several official and unofficial mentors along the way. I believe in learning from people around you. Remember you don’t always have all the knowledge or skills. So look around you and observe and learn.
My official mentors took a personal interest in my work and understanding me as a person so that I could reach my potential. They would challenge me to think bigger. As part of Jet Growth, the management trainee program, Mr. Peter Luethi, the erstwhile COO of Jet was my mentor. He made it very easy for me to have honest conversations with him about my future career path and thanks to his faith in me, I moved into the strategic side of the airline business.
In Kingfisher Airlines, Dr Vijay Mallya, gave me immense confidence. He told me to speak freely and with confidence at any forum when representing Kingfisher and that he would back me up. Because of that faith, I was able to take a stand at Ministry meetings or at international conferences.
Currently I have mentors assigned as part of the various fellowships and programs I am part of. My mentor Michelle Geis at the Aspen New Voices Fellowship, is always challenging me to write op-eds and think through my communications both verbal and written and I can tell you it has helped me on the global stage. My mentor Lena Rams felt from the SE outreach accelerator in Sweden constantly pushes me to think of making Safecity sustainable without grants and donations whilst achieving scale.
But my biggest mentor is my mother who is the epitome of handwork and perseverance. I have learned to never give up from her and push one’s self to achieve the maximum.
Q: Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey – how and when did you start it? Did you plan for it and what would be your inputs for others?
A: As mentioned earlier, during the phase that Kingfisher Airlines was going through its financial downturn, I was already thinking of starting something on my own. I just didn’t know what to focus on except that it had to do something for women and children. At the Swedish Institute Management program we had to do a project that could be implemented in our company but by then Kingfisher had shut down operations. So I decided to start a mentoring program for women to achieve their potential. However after the rape in Delhi, I decided that mentoring could wait and we needed to address safety and security of women.
I also tried my hand at an eldercare service to provide emotional and psychological well-being to the senior citizens but I think the idea was ahead of its time and I chose not to pursue it. Instead I focused on Safecity.
Initially I spent almost a year understanding the development sector. I volunteered with another organization to work in the field on public safety and also helped them set up their internal processes. But then we (3 cofounders) decided to register the organization. I was going to lead it and be a full time member because they had full time jobs. We got selected to an incubator in the US – Fast FWD Philadelphia (Feb – May 2014) which focused on public safety. It helped us think through our customers, our offering, the kind of organization we needed to set up, etc. This year we got selected to attend an accelerator in Stockholm Sweden by SE Forum to scale our social enterprise.
Also my fellowships at Aspen New Voices, Vital Voices and Cherie Blair Foundation have helped me in different ways, either connecting me to a larger network of likeminded people or given me skills to enhance my organization.
Q: What career advice will you give to younger women?
A: Follow your heart. Pick a job that you will enjoy as you spend more time at work than at home. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Nothing is rocket science, except rocket science. If I could make the move from a flight attendant to a Vice President Network Planning, so can you.
In my opinion this is the best time to be a woman entrepreneur. There is a lot of support out there – to give you knowledge, skills and even funding. Make use of it and achieve your potential to the maximum.
Also have open conversations with people around you including your bosses. Don’t assume things. They might be able to help you even if you have personal problems. If you are married, get your husband to contribute at home equally. Put your support systems in place and don’t feel guilty for having a career.
Q: Which is your favourite book and author?
A: Not one but many.
James Clavell and the entire series on Nobel House, Shogun, King Rat
I like espionage and action so most books of Leon Uris, Clive Cussler, Jeffrey Archer, and Wilbur Smith
Q: Personal interests and hobbies?
A: I love reading – only fiction. Baking – am a sugar craft specialist. Travelling – I have been to over 50 countries and many several times. Photography and Writing.
Q: What drives you and fulfills you?
A: Being the best in whatever I do. I love my current life.
Q: What do you love the most about your work?
A: That I am able to bring about change in the lives of many people. At practically every workshop we do, we have women crying. A 17 year old girl says attending my workshop changed her life. She had been abused by a religious teacher at the age of 10 and after attending her workshop she realized that she is not alone, she can deal with her issue and is working through it. These stories are quite tangible and motivate me to do my best.
Q: What are your biggest achievements so far?
A: I managed to set up a not for profit company and it is almost self-sufficient. That to me is the biggest achievement as its vision is to make public spaces safer for all.
Apart from that we have won the below awards, some are personal and some are organizational but it is hard to separate the two.
Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2015 by Angel Investor Europe 2013, Dusan Stojanovic. It was a worldwide competition with judges from Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, Europe and China and out of 150 women entrepreneurs, I won it.
I gave a Ted Talk at TEDxMidAtlantic in Washington DC in Sept 2015 and a 2 minute speech at the Aspen Ideas Festival Opening Ceremony in June 2015.
Google Business Group Success Story Challenge Finalist in the SME category in2014. We were 1 of 3 selected in the finals of the competition. Google sent someone to make a video of us.
Runner up Facebook Award 2014 in Social innovation
Q: Who do you look up to for inspiration?
A: Different people for different things. Right now am focused on doing my best to make the issue of sexual violence more visible and getting the knowledge on the issue and legal rights to as many women/girls, men/boys as possible.
Q: What is your take on biases against women?
A: It is ingrained and therefore subconscious. Not many people actively think about it and therefore the need to bust them. We call them out whenever it happens but whoever it happens. It means sticking your neck out but we have to do it if things have to change. We also have to showcase different kinds of success stories for women to be inspired to push themselves out of their comfort zones or even take a stand. It is not easy but it can be done and we owe it to ourselves and the next generation to do it.
Elsa’s project aims at creating awareness on sexual harassment and abuse and get women and other disadvantaged communities to break their silence and report their personal experiences. She encourages women to feel safe and know their rights. We thank her for sharing her story with us.
