Introduction

I Can Lead 2026

I Can Lead 2026

I Can Lead is Rising Flame’s flagship national leadership programme, designed exclusively for young women with disabilities across India. Created by women with disabilities, for women with disabilities, the programme is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: leadership is not a fixed trait. It grows when nurtured in the right environment.

In 2026, I Can Lead welcomed its third cohort of 20 young women with disabilities into a transformative 10-month leadership journey, the highest number of Fellows in this programme thus far. Selected from more than 80 applications from across the country, this cohort brings together women with diverse identities, experiences, ambitions, and areas of work.

Over 10 months, the cohort will learn, reflect, experiment, and grow together, building not only individual leadership capacities, but also a community of peers committed to creating change.

The programme is part-time and largely virtual, making it possible for participants to engage alongside their work, education, personal responsibilities, and community commitments. The 2026 edition runs from September 2026 to June 2027, with opportunities for participants to come together in person as well.

The Cohort

Akankshi Srivastava is an Indian woman with long wavy dark hair, one side tucked behind her ear. She is wearing a dark purple kurta with light purple designs in the front.

Akankshi Srivastava

34 years old, from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and living with low vision.

Arti Vilas Manmode is an Indian woman with long dark hair. She is wearing glasses. She is wearing a dark green robe with a red border over a blue saree.

Arti Vilas Manmode

24 years old, from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and living with low vision.

Chandana Balabomma is an Indian woman with her hair tied back. She is sitting in a studio with a blue background, wearing a light kurta with embellishments on the collar and a small red dot on her forehead.

Chandana Balabomma

23 years old, from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and living with low vision.

Chandana C is an in Indian woman with short black, shoulder-length hair. She is wearing a bright pink top, in a studio with a white background.

Chandana C

32 years old, from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and is blind.

Dhanashri Gawande is an Indian woman standing in front of a white wall. Her hair is dark and tied up at the back. She is wearing a red kurti.

Dhanashri Gawande

25 years old, from Mumbai, Maharashtra, and is blind.

Divya S is an Indian woman with dark black hair tied in a braid over her shoulder. She is wearing glasses, and a pink kurta with golden borders at the collar.

Divya S

22 years old, from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and is blind. 

Gayatri has dark curly hair. They are wearing glasses, and a brown and white floral collared top. They are sitting outdoors with a hand on her chin.

Gayatri

31 years old, from Mumbai, Maharashtra, and living with Chronic Neurological Conditions.

Himanshi Sardana is an Indian woman with dark shoulder-length hair. She is wearing glasses, and a cream coloured blazer over a pink top.

Himanshi Sardana

32 years old, from New Delhi, and living with cerebral palsy. 

Kaeshikka Chettri is an Indian woman with shoulder-length dark hair. She is wearing glasses and white and blue striped shirt. She is outside - some stores are visible in the background.

Kaeshikka Chettri

24 years old, from Gangtok, Sikkim, and living with a psychosocial disability.

Kanu Mahajan is an Indian woman with curly dark hair. She is wearing a black blazer, sitting in a studio with a white background. She has a small black bindi on her forehead.

Kanu Mahajan

36 years old, from Hyderabad, Telangana, and living with a locomotor disability.

Maithili Gaikwad is an Indian woman who is outdoors, in her wheelchair with pink piping. She has shoulder-length dark hair and is wearing a white kurti with gold embellishments and blue jeans. There are some cars in the background.

Maithili Gaikwad

31 years old, from Mumbai, Maharashtra, and living with a locomotor disability.

Malavika B is an Indian woman, sitting in a studio with a white background. She has dark hair that is tied back. She is wearing glasses, and a green collared top.

Malavika B

22 years old, from Trichy, Tamil Nadu, and living with low vision. 

Pratibha Kumari is an Indian woman sitting on her wheelchair inside an office. She has dark, shoulder-length hair, and she is wearing a white shirt and brown pants.

Pratibha Kumari

35 years old, from Bengaluru, Karnataka, and living with a locomotor disability.

Ritika Gupta is an Indian woman standing in front of a window. She has shoulder-length hair that is dyed deep red. She is wearing glasses, a floral top and blue jeans. She has a crossbody bag on.

Ritika Gupta

29 years old, from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, and is Autistic.

Sapna Jangid is an Indian woman with long hair that is dyed brown. She has propped her glasses up to push her hair back. She is wearing a white short-sleeved top and small hoop earrings. She has some sindoor on her forehead.

Sapna Jangid

26 years old, from Gandhinagar, Gujarat, and is Deaf.

Sara Chawla is an Indian woman sitting on a bright coloured bed. She has long dark hair and is wearing a pink, embellished, sleeveless gown.

Sara Chawla

25 years old, from Ludhiana, Punjab, and is blind.

Shafali is an Indian woman with long dark hair. She is standing outdoors with a brick wall in the background. She is wearing a grey blazer over a white turtleneck.

Shafali

28 years old, from New Delhi, and living with Chronic Neurological Conditions.

Surashree Rahane is an Indian woman with shoulder-length hair. She is wearing a light pink blazer over a black top, in a studio with a white background.

Surashree Rahane

34 years old, from Nashik, Maharashtra, and living with a locomotor disability.

Swetaleena Nayak is an Indian woman with long dark hair. She is wearing glasses and a black kurti, in a studio with a white background.

Swetaleena Nayak

31 years old, from Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, and living with Thalassemia.

Zainab Madarwala is an Indian woman standing in front of a dark wall. She has long dark hair, and is wearing a yellow Indian suit with a dupatta draped around her arm. There is a vase of flowers next to her.

Zainab Madarwala

29 years old, from Patna, Bihar, and is blind.

Across 10 months, participants will move through a carefully designed leadership journey across three modules:

  • The Internal Compass: Exploring identity, lived experience, power structures, and self-awareness to anchor one’s unique leadership journey.
  • The Bridge Builder: Developing communication, negotiation, collaboration, and advocacy skills to navigate relationships, systems, and spaces with confidence.
  • The Catalyst: Practicing adaptive leadership during conflict and crisis, leading ethically, and demonstrating leadership vision for actionable change.

Within these modules, participants will engage in:

  1. Nine expert-led learning labs.
  2. Four months of life coaching.
  3. Four months of individualised mentoring sessions.
  4. Self-paced learning courses.
  5. Hands-on assignments.
  6. Peer learning and networking spaces.
  7. An Impact Project designed to apply programme learning in real-world contexts.

Participants also have the opportunity to learn from business leaders, entrepreneurs, disability rights advocates, feminist practitioners, mental health professionals, legal experts, communication specialists, filmmakers, and leaders from diverse sectors.

Learn More

Read about our previous cohorts: