Feminism is widely misunderstood not only in India but across the world. In fact, it is a liberating way of thinking for both men and women. Relations between boys and girls are fast changing today. We need to listen to each other, talk to each other, to make the world a better place where respect, dignity and above all freedom is a reality for everyone across genders, castes, faiths or socio-economic status. Prof. Medha Kotwal Lele has been actively associated with the Women’s Movement in western India since 1975. She is a Founder member & Managing Trustee of Aalochana Centre for Documentation and Research on Women, Pune. Aalochana is one of the first women’s resource centers in the state of Maharashtra (1989). Its special contribution has been in providing all kinds of women centric information in Marathi and not in English alone.
Medha has been involved in conducting training programs for rural women’s empowerment and leadership under a large UNDP Panchayati Raj project. 33% reservation for women which came with the 73rd &74th amendment of the Indian constitution opened up this opportunity for thousands of women.
Prof Medha Kotwal holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Pune (1988) and has taught at various local colleges.
She teaches “Social Justice” and ‘Social Entrepreneurship’ at the Alliance for Global Education, Pune for almost 10 years. She was the Director of a study abroad program known as ACM (Associated Colleges of Mid- West, USA) 2018-19
She was invited to speak at international conferences including USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Kampuchea.
She has been Guest Lecturer at several institutes in Pune, including: YASHADA (Govt. of Maharashtra’s Training Institute for Civil Servants), SNDT University, Mumbai; SNDT University, Karve Institute of Social Science, ILS Law College, MIT School of Government.

She has been an NGO Representative on the Sexual Harassment Committee of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Pune, from 2006 to 2008, and IUCCA from 2015 to 2019. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx