For decades, Reema Nanavaty has worked with women in India’s informal economy, helping build livelihoods, enterprises and systems designed around their economic security and independence.

For millions of women in India, work does not necessarily come with a formal employer, a fixed salary or the protections associated with organised employment. They may be vendors, farmers, domestic workers, artisans, waste recyclers, home-based workers or small producers, earning through their own labour while remaining largely outside formal systems of social and economic security.

For decades, Reema Nanavaty has worked within that reality through the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), helping build systems that place the needs and economic agency of women workers at the centre. Her work has covered livelihoods and enterprise development as well as agriculture, food security, renewable energy and social protection. SEWA currently represents more than 3.7 million women workers across 20 states in India.

On October 15, 2026, Nanavaty was honoured at Georgetown University with the Hillary Rodham Clinton Award for Advancing Women in Peace and Security. The 2026 award ceremony focused specifically on women's economic empowerment and its connection to the prosperity, stability and security of communities. Nanavaty was one of the recipients recognised by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security.

Working With Women Outside the Formal Economy

SEWA's work begins with a group that has historically remained difficult to see within conventional ideas of employment.

Its members include vegetable vendors and hawkers, home-based workers, agricultural workers, domestic workers, construction workers, waste recyclers, artisans, small farmers and salt farmers. These women are economically active, but many work without a fixed employer and have limited access to the protections and systems available to workers in the formal economy.

SEWA was founded in Ahmedabad in 1972 by Ela Bhatt as a trade union for poor, self-employed women. What began with women seeking better wages and working conditions grew into a wider movement combining union organising, cooperatives, financial services, training and social protection. Over the decades, the organisation expanded across India and developed ways to address not only employment, but the wider conditions that determine whether women can sustain their livelihoods.

Nanavaty's work has developed within this broader movement.

Economic Independence Means More Than Income

One of the central ideas behind this approach is that earning money is only one part of economic independence.

A woman who earns an income but has no access to markets, financial services, insurance, skills, technology or social protection can remain vulnerable when circumstances change. For women working in agriculture or other climate-sensitive livelihoods, extreme heat and other environmental shocks can make that vulnerability even more severe.

SEWA's current work reflects this wider understanding. Its programmes include initiatives around green livelihoods, climate resilience, heat insurance, agriculture, food systems and renewable energy, while continuing to focus on the economic security of informal women workers.

Nanavaty has also written and worked extensively on areas such as livelihood finance, sustainable agriculture, women as farmers, food security and market institutions for poor women. Her work has therefore extended beyond helping individual women earn more to building collective systems through which women can access markets, organise and have greater influence over decisions affecting their work.

A Movement That Has Reached Millions

The scale of SEWA is one measure of how far this work has travelled.

The organisation currently says it has 3.78 million members across 20 states, representing women working in a wide range of trades and occupations. It describes itself as the largest national trade union centre in India for women workers in the informal economy.

That scale matters because the challenges faced by informal workers are rarely limited to one workplace or one industry. A street vendor may need access to credit and secure market space. A farmer may need better agricultural support and protection against climate shocks. A home-based worker may need market access and collective bargaining power. A waste recycler may need recognition and safer working conditions.

SEWA's model attempts to address these different needs through collective organisation and institutions created around the realities of women's work. Over the years, its members have also been involved in campaigns and policy efforts around issues such as street vending, home-based work, social security and the recognition of informal workers.

Why Georgetown Recognised Her Work

The Hillary Rodham Clinton Award is presented by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Georgetown University's Institute for Women, Peace and Security to recognise leadership advancing women's roles in creating a more peaceful and secure world. In 2026, the theme of the awards centred on women's economic empowerment as a key to peace and security.

Nanavaty's recognition fits into that broader understanding of security. Economic insecurity can affect whether women can withstand a crisis, sustain a livelihood, support their families or participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their communities.

The award therefore recognises more than a career of organisational leadership. It reflects a model of women's empowerment in which economic opportunity, collective organisation and social protection are connected.

The Work Is Bigger Than One Award

The most important part of Reema Nanavaty's story may not be the ceremony at Georgetown or the recognition attached to her name. It is the network of women whose work sits behind the organisation she represents.

SEWA's members work across farms, homes, markets, streets, workshops and small enterprises. Much of that labour has historically been invisible in formal measures of employment, even though it sustains families, communities and local economies.

Nanavaty's work has focused on building systems that make these women more visible, more organised and better equipped to secure their livelihoods. The goal is not simply to help women participate in the economy, but to strengthen their ability to shape the conditions under which they work.

That is what makes her recognition significant. The award carries the name of one woman, but the work it acknowledges extends to millions of women whose labour is often seen only after it is missing.

For Reema Nanavaty and SEWA, economic empowerment is ultimately about giving women more than an income. It is about creating the security, collective strength and freedom to make decisions about their own work and lives.

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