The first session is by Ms. Puroitree Majumdar, a Clinical Psychologist at YourDOST For a woman to balance a thriving family life and continue to ace at work can be quite demanding. This International Women’s Day, upGrad, India’s largest higher edtech, curates virtual sessions for its female employees as well as the spouses, mothers, sisters and women friends of its male employees to help them manoeuvre and improve every phase of their life. These sessions are aimed at sharing a voice about the things that matter and can empower women to make a difference - through financial independence and mental well-being. The first session by Ms. Puroitree Majumdar, a Clinical Psychologist at YourDOST, will emphasise on the importance of being mindful of one’s mental health while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. The session will guide them to identify unique stress points in a woman's life whether it’s a transition from being single to married or being a mother juggling between multiple roles and help them build a personal response plan to such stressors in life. The second session will focus on financial literacy and empowering women to be more financially independent. This session by Ms. Surabhi Jain, an investment advisor, and a certified financial planner will touch upon various areas of financial investments, goal and age-based financial planning and financial crisis management making them more aware of the imperativeness of taking their financial stability into their own hands. Commenting on the same, Preeti Kaul, President - HR, upGrad, said, “At upGrad we pride ourselves in being an inclusive and people centric organisation. It is critical for us to understand each member’s challenges and needs and ensure we enable our employees to have rich and fulfilling personal and professional lives. Therefore, in order to foster overall well-being of women employees at upGrad as well as in their extended family, we are glad to conduct these sessions that are specially designed to address some of the concerns a working woman faces today, often neglected and not talked about. I am sure that these sessions would not only empower them but would also help them plan a healthy lifestyle both financially and mentally.” Most recently, to provide a holistic well-being of its employees, upGrad has taken a strong move and announced a free COVID-19 vaccination drive for all its employees (full-time, contract, intern etc.) and their families. The initiative also covers the vaccination for ex-employees, thus potentially benefiting upwards of 10K individuals. The edtech major is already in advanced discussion with private service providers for vaccination and the drive will initiate as soon as government approvals and procurement of vaccines is allowed. This move makes upGrad, the first Indian company in the start-up edtech space to announce such a COVID-19 vaccination drive.