Rashmi Vittal Presents WICCI Luxembourg & How it Supports Professional Women

Chronicle.lu recently had the opportunity to speak with Rashmi Vittal, President of WICCI Luxembourg, to learn about the Luxembourg chapter of the Women's Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI).

Chronicle.lu: Please tell us about WICCI Luxembourg, its origins and its main objectives.

Rashmi Vittal: WICCI Luxembourg is one of the 1,200+ councils on WICCI Global. WICCI was founded as a not-for-profit organisation by Dr Harbeen Arora. WICCI is present in 100+ countries and is a platform for women entrepreneurs and professionals.

In countries with larger populace and diverse business environments, for example in India, WICCI has established sector-dedicated councils like entrepreneurship, technology, art, mental health, yoga, etc., maximising the opportunity for women to have a platform to share, support, learn and promote each other. There are about 180+ sectors today globally and about 18,000+ office bearers and more than 250,000 professional women that are networked.

WICCI is a platform that helps women "be the change and seek the change". This platform has helped women to come together in each of their domains, not only to share and support but even influence policies at all levels. A good example is the recent 100+ submissions that were made to the G20 summit, to the Prime Minister's Office in India for gender equality.

Chronicle.lu: When did you join / found WICCI Luxembourg and how has it evolved over the years?

Rashmi Vittal: I was approached by Dr Harbeen Arora to establish and run WICCI Luxembourg in mid 2020. I took it up as it was/is an excellent opportunity to be able to create a community of brilliant women.

When I arrived in Luxembourg in 2018 as a trailing spouse and an ex-entrepreneur, I had the opportunity to be part of the founding team with IDCN [International Dual Career Network]. I realised that Luxembourg is a brilliant melting pot of very highly qualified spouses (mostly women) from diverse professional backgrounds (some of whom became my close friends). But with IDCN I did not have an opportunity to continue once I had found a job. So when WICCI came into my lap, I knew we could do a lot with this platform - with women and for women.

Having been an entrepreneur with two companies that I founded and WICCI's focus on business, my first thought was to follow the WICCI template in Luxembourg. But within a week of reaching out, I quickly realised that there were such brilliant women out there in the areas of space, tech, IT, art, finance and more. Diversity is such a fertile ground to build something interesting, so I quickly pivoted WICCI Luxembourg to invite women from all professional backgrounds. And so, the first batch of WICCI Council Members were formed.

Chronicle.lu: What are the day-to-day activities of WICCI Luxembourg? And please tell us more about the different events organised by WICCI Luxembourg. 

Rashmi Vittal: WICCI Luxembourg has monthly Council meetings which are open to registered Council Members only. However we often conduct free and informative events "open to all". In Luxembourg, we conduct events that have been very well attended and have been very well received in the past. For example, one of the top challenges that the trailing spouse community faces is job hunting. Both in the logical sense and also being able to find emotional support during that phase. We know that this can be a very unique, lonely and gruelling experience for some. We organised an online event on "How I went from job boards to a payroll in Luxembourg". Now, I run into people sometimes who tell me that it was a very useful event. We did another one called "How I built a successful business in Luxembourg" where three women entrepreneurs shared their journeys of coming to this country and starting a new business from scratch. Our most recent was "How I became a successful freelancer in Luxembourg".

We are also connected with other WICCIs across Europe and are invited to events that happen across Europe and India. WICCI has 250,000 members globally and is also connected with G100, ALL Ladies League (ALL), Women Economic Forum (WEF) and SHEconomy, with industry leaders worldwide. We plug into these activities as and when possible.

We have much more planned in 2023. We have received requests for workshops and we plan to do some paid small group workshops. At the same, we stay focussed on keeping it simple and keeping it impactful.

Chronicle.lu: What support (if any) does WICCI Luxembourg receive (from government agencies, NGOs, volunteers, etc.)?

Rashmi Vittal: At present, all WICCI Luxembourg Council Members are volunteers. All of us are professional women with full-time jobs or running companies and have children. We make time for this cause because we believe in the power of being connected on a professional platform - to both be able to share stories (of both success and challenges) and to have a place to come to feel inspired. 

We are working on expanding new roles at WICCI Luxembourg in 2023 and we have received a lot of interest. Anyone interested can reach out to us at wiccilux@gmail.com.

Chronicle.lu: How does membership for WICCI Luxembourg work?

Rashmi Vittal: We have WICCI Council Membership which runs annually and it comes with responsibilities of shaping WICCI and working on the year's goals. Then we have WICCI Volunteer roles, which are short-term roles for people who want to contribute while they have some gap time on their hands like during job hunting or other short-term opportunities.

Chronicle.lu: What kind of support does WICCI Luxembourg provide to its members?

Rashmi Vittal: WICCI Luxembourg events are open to the public and do not require any membership to benefit from our work. Much like what you would find in an Open Source model. We support women professionals by sharing stories, by being an inspirational example of success and sharing tips and strategies that you will not be able to just google away. It is a platform in its true sense that offers support and guidance. People reach out to us on our social platforms - LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook - or also via email.

Chronicle.lu: What are the main challenges that WICCI Luxembourg has identified for its members in Luxembourg?

Rashmi Vittal: One of the main challenges for the WICCI Council Members is continuity. As mentioned before, WICCI Council Members are highly qualified and intelligent professional or business women. And as their life evolves over time, for example a new project that needs their complete attention or a new job or sometimes even a new degree or relocating from Luxembourg, then they move on. At WICCI, we encourage growth and celebrate their successes, and we are thrilled as they reach new heights. The beauty of a country like Luxembourg is that there is a continuous influx of new people with fresh perspectives who reach out and fill in with just as much enthusiasm and drive.