About Us
Women’s Education Project (WEP) prepares women to become economically independent leaders.
WEP partners with girl-focused NGOs to provide its Leadership Academy, where young, vulnerable women, (ages 15-24), find their confidence, explore their interests and opportunities and acquire job-ready skills to pursue them – within a supportive community of peers, mentors and role models.
The Leadership Academy’s diploma granting curriculum of skill-building, vision-expanding experiences, field trips, guest speakers, mentors, workshops, internships, training programs, and courses prepare students to develop the leader within and become economically independent, many pursuing a viable career of their own choosing.
Upon completion, those wishing to become an entrepreneur or pursue a career are introduced, through the Academy’s Next Step program, to training programs, colleges, and other opportunities..
All graduates may join the Alumnae Sisterhood to meet peers and mentor new students. WEP is always ready to assist alumnae according to their needs.
Our Story
Board of Directors
Nalini Dhar
First Vice President, Merrill Lynch-Bank of America
President, Minal Patel
Owner, Minal Patel LLC.
Kathy Hurley
Co-Founder and CEO, Girls Thinking Global
Vice President, Deepika Mandrekar
Advocate for Women and Education
Veeru Srivastava
Director, Bank of America
Founder, Zoë Timms
Founding Director, Women’s Education Project
Gaurav Verma
Chief Operating Officer, US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF)
Board of Directors, WEP India
Shalini Puchalalpalli
Director at Amazon
Roopa Ravikumar
Asst. professor in Sociology at Lady Doak College
Shruti Shibulal
Director and CEO of Tamara Leisure Experiences
Malini Eden
Administrative and Program Director of WEP-India
Council
Lori Adams
Immigration Attorney
Kirti Agarwal
Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Dr. Karen Ruskin and Associates
Donna Campbell
Executive Director, Aravind Eye Foundation
Michael Campbell
Healthcare Consultant and Managing Member, Indicina
Deb DeVries
Co Founder and President at Girls Thinking Global
Amanda Gassé
Energy & Resource Solutions
Ekta Ghelani
Senior Investment Analyst, Appomattox Advisory, Inc.
Arshdeep Gill
Business Analyst, Orvis Investments
Kyle Horan
Security Consultant, Hackerone
Deepika Mandrekar
Advocate for Women and Education
Paula Maylahn
Paula Maylahn Consulting
Bhavani Parameswar
President, Indivate Inc.
Maureen Quinn
Adjunct Professor, New York University and Seton Hall University
Rasika Reddy
Artist
Sophie Soares
Project Manager, Adolescent Girls’ Programming at the Population Counci
Meet the Team
Zoë Timms
Founding Executive Director
Zoë Timms, Founding Executive Director, first went to Hyderabad, India in 1996 as a student of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Year-in-India Program. There she was introduced to educational, grassroots NGOs, helping former girl child laborers study for the first time. Later, in 2001-2004, directing the Wisconsin program in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Zoë worked with a young woman whose dream to obtain an MBA and enter a career in finance were blocked by serious family illness and debt.
Zoë realized there were countless ambitious young women in similar circumstances. She thought about the obstacles they faced and the steps it would take to remove them. The idea of creating a Center where young women could meet, develop skills, focus their ambitions, and expand their awareness of life’s possibilities was born.
Zoë returned to New York to raise the money for her friend’s scholarship and recruited others to the cause.
Sudar, WEP’s first Center, opened in Madurai in 2002. This was followed by Hyderabad in 2007 and Kadapa in 2012. In 2016, WEP-India was established in Bangalore with its own Board and in-Country Director.
Today, a young woman whose dream was to obtain an MBA is now a Senior Bank Manager at an International bank in Bangalore.
Leadership Academy Directors
Academy Directors are women whose leadership, compassion, creativity, and laughter and commitment to the students drives the success of the WEP program.
