Renana Jhabvala

Renana Jhabvala is an Indian social worker based in Ahmedabad, India, who has been active for decades in organising women into organisations and trade unions in India, and has been extensively involved in policy issues relating to poor women and the informal economy. She is best known for her long association with the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India, and for her writings on issues of women in the informal economy.

In 1990, she was awarded a Padma Shri from the Government of India for her contributions in the field of social work. In April 2012, she became Chancellor of Gandhigram Rural Institute, a Deemed University in Tamil Nadu, India.

Renana Jhabvala was born in Delhi to the Booker-prize winning novelist and screen-writer, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and well-known architect Cyrus S. H. Jhabvala. Her grandparents were active in public life during the early to mid part of the twentieth century. Her grandfather, Shavaksha Jhabvala, was active in the early Indian trade union movement, and her grandmother, Mehraben Jhabvala, in the emerging women's movement. In a February 2012 talk given at the India International Centre (Delhi), Renana spoke about the work of Mehraben, who was a dedicated organiser and advocate of women and the President of the All-India Women's Conference from 1965–68. This talk can be viewed at the India International Centre's website.

Renana Jhabvala was raised and schooled in Delhi and graduated from Hindu College, University of Delhi, in 1972 with a distinction in BSc Math. She attended Harvard University to pursue an additional degree in BA Math. She then went on to the Yale University to pursue post-graduate studies in Economics.

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