Who we are

Who we are

About Forum

Laja is a forum for women, by women with women working with the single aim of empowering more women and making them become better versions of themselves. We are not a Community or a Society, we are a Forum that strives to make an impact and an improvement in the lives of women around us.

Our Founder

Riddhi Doshi Patel is the Founder of Laja. She is a Child Psychologist, Behavioral Coach, Performance Skills Trainer, Counselling Psychologist,  Educator, TEDx Speaker, Entrepreneur, Wife, Mother, Daughter and many more things rolled into one. A self-made woman, she has always believed in being self-sufficient, sustainable and resilient in her mission to empower women from within and on the outside as well. She started LAJA when she saw how women who managed homes, finances and the day-to-day needs of the multiple members in the family; became shy and meek when it came to themselves, their skills or their likes. Riddhi Doshi Patel launched LAJA with the aim of helping such women overcome their inhibitions and become confident about themselves.

Riddhi Doshi Patel is the Founder of Laja. She is a Child Psychologist, Parenting Counselor, Performance Skills Trainer, Counselling Psychologist,  Educator, TEDx Speaker, Entrepreneur, Wife, Mother, Daughter and many more things rolled into one. A self-made woman, she has always believed in being self-sufficient, sustainable and resilient in her mission to empower women from within and on the outside as well. She started LAJA when she saw how women who managed homes, finances and the day-to-day needs of the multiple members in the family; became shy and meek when it came to themselves, their skills or their likes. Riddhi Doshi Patel launched LAJA with the aim of helping such women overcome their inhibitions and become confident about themselves. She advocates mental wellness for women and children.

About Forum

Laja started her journey in 2014, when Riddhi Doshi Patel, the Founder wondered why women who normally manage the home, finances, children, elders in the family, daily budgeting, housekeeping, medical requirements and many more things; would suddenly be at aloss when asked about themselves and their aspirations. Wanting to help such women find their own trueselves and their identities, Riddhi Doshi Patel started LAJA. Initially the going was tough since women would question the need for such a forum among the many women centric forums.

 

our journey

Laja started her journey in 2014, when Riddhi Doshi Patel, the Founder wondered why women who normally manage the home, finances, children, elders in the family, daily budgeting, housekeeping, medical requirements and many more things; would suddenly be at aloss when asked about themselves and their aspirations. Wanting to help such women find their own trueselves and their identities, Riddhi Doshi Patel started LAJA. Initially the going was tough since women would question the need for such a forum among the many women centric forums.

Over time they realized that LAJA is not just a meet, greet and make merry kind of a forum; it was and still is a forum where women come together to discuss aspects of their lives that they could not discuss with anyone else. Discussions on health, children’s education, daily groceries, home décor soon gave way to discussions on mental peace, relationships,sexuality, entrepreneurship and more. Slowly women realized that after each meet, they went back home with something to think about, something to act upon, something to do for themselves and this is gratifying.

Over time they realized that LAJA is not just a meet, greet and make merry kind of a forum; it was and still is a forum where women come together to discuss aspects of their lives that they could not discuss with anyone else. Discussions on health, children’s education, daily groceries, home décor soon gave way to discussions on mental peace, relationships, sexuality, entrepreneurship and more. Slowly women realized that after each meet, they went back home with something to think about, something to act upon, something to do for themselves and this is gratifying.

Thus, began LAJA’s journey in 2014 and then in 2017, we held the very first Conclave for Women called TATVA – Empowering Women. Held in IIT, Powai, the conclave saw a wonderful gathering of women entrepreneurs, start-ups, mentors and influencers get together to discuss women’s empowerment, women’s growth and women’s success stories.

Laja now conducts monthly Coffee meets, Vocational Workshops, Seminars, Online Expert Talks and an Annual Conclave. We started with one chapter in Mumbai and now have two chapters in Mumbai – Central and Western Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and have launched in Pune and Delhi recently too.

Laja started her journey in 2014, when Riddhi Doshi Patel, the Founder wondered why women who normally manage the home, finances, children, elders in the family, daily budgeting, housekeeping, medical requirements and many more things; would suddenly be at aloss when asked about themselves and their aspirations. Wanting to help such women find their own trueselves and their identities, Riddhi Doshi Patel started LAJA. Initially the going was tough since women would question the need for such a forum among the many women centric forums.

Over time they realized that LAJA is not just a meet, greet and make merry kind of a forum; it was and still is a forum where women come together to discuss aspects of their lives that they could not discuss with anyone else. Discussions on health, children’s education, daily groceries, home décor soon gave way to discussions on mental peace, relationships, sexuality, entrepreneurship and more. Slowly women realized that after each meet, they went back home with something to think about, something to act upon, something to do for themselves and this is gratifying. 

OUR tEAM

LAJA is an ever expanding and growing team including women with skills and the passion to reach out to and help other women empower themselves. However, the main team comprises of 8 confident women who are unique and special in their own wonderful ways.

Supriya Kabra is a dynamic, seasoned HR, OD professional and Soft Skills and Behavioural Trainer with over a decade of experience. She specialises in establishing complete customised, innovative and doable solutions. She has been awarded as Best Business Consultant and Innovative HR practices Award (at national level). She is Director of COSMIQUE CONSULTANTS, Founder – ENTRACO – a mobile app for complete employee management focuses on engagement, training and communication. With her experience in dealing with people, she is now the CEO of LAJA .

Supriya Naval Kabra
CEO and HR & Recruitment & Learning Head, LAJA

A Content Writer with more than 16 years of experience, Vandana has been with LAJA since its inception in 2014. Skilled as a writer, Vandana is passionate about her work and spends time understanding the pulse of the women and together with the Founder and the CEO, pave the way forward for LAJA’s development & growth. A people’s person, Vandana is the perfect bridge between the multiple teams in LAJA. Easily approachable; Vandana loves interacting, understanding and helping LAJA women align their skills with their talents and along with Riddhi Doshi Patel, design talks or workshops for the benefit of everyone on the forum. A mother, wife, daughter, she believes her role as an individual and as a woman should not be forgotten or undermined. Vandana is a Content Creator, Writer & Editor and is now enjoying her role as a Storyteller.

Vandana Joshil
COO, LAJA & Managing Director - LAJA TV

Kamal Jeswani is India’s 1st Internationally Certified Financial Success Coach with a CFP and MBA in Finance. He conducts Financial Super Success seminars across India. He is the founder of Count Mint Financial Planners which provides solutions to people who wish to enjoy Financial Abundance for their entire life. He is passionate about learning & continuous improvement. He is our go-to man for all Marketing strategies and is our Marketing Consultant. Kamal believes in the need to enable women to take charge of their lives and wholeheartedly supports LAJA and all our initiatives.

Kamal Jeswani
Marketing & Finance Consultant

Ganesh Dalvi is a certified Professional Facilitator promoting the power of facilitation worldwide. With a work experience of close to 2 decades with Multinational brands, Ganesh  strongly agrees with Ray Kroc’s dictum “Take care of the people& the business will take care of itself”.Ganesh believes that training should be fun, experiential & impactful proactive to achievebetter business results. Ganesh’ forte is learning design architecture, Outbound Learning &Facilitative interventions. He is putting his expertise and experience to good use and helping Team LAJA workout successful winning strategies.

Ganesh Dalvi
Strategic Consultant

Jatin Chaudhary is the Co-Founder of eChai.Network, a friendly global startup network that hosts engaging startup meetups. eChai.Network was started 11 years back in Ahmedabad (India) and have grown immensely in the last 2-3 years with physical presence thru meetups in 25+ global startup cities in 15+ countries.

Jatin Chaudhary
Strategic Advisor

Preeti Sanjeev Thakkar is a very optimistic person with enthusiasm & a straight forward attitude. Food and Nutrition are her favorite domains.  She likes meeting people and making new friends. Upgrading is her keyword. Her hobbies are singing, painting, reading & traveling. As the Culinary Head at LAJA, she has successfully connected women to simple, nutritious and tasty recipes. A boon to many women struggling with work and family.

Preeti Sanjeev Thakkar
Culinary Segment Head at LAJA

Sejal Shah is the Proprietor of Preesh Uniforms and the Only women in Maharashtra in the business of Uniforms. She believes that your business identity is your pride, which describes why uniforms are a necessity for your institutions. She heads the Mumbai Chapter and manages the LAJA Marketplace with professionalism.

Sejal Rakesh Shah
Mall Head

Dr Kalpa Shah, Founder of The Healing Tree. She is a Homeopathic Consultant, graduated from Smt. C M Patel Homeopathic College, Vile Parle. She holds 11 yrs experience of treating patients of various acute and chronic complaints. She is a Counselor from St. Xavier’s Institute, trained by Father Fuster.  She has further upgraded her Counseling skills through various modalities like Hypnosis, Essential Redikal Healing and Access Bars. She is also an NLP Practitioner.

Dr. Kalpa Jimith Shah
Wellness Head at Laja and Manager - Mumbai Chapter

The Board of Directors

Vandana Joshil

Vandana Joshil, a Laja board member and expert in The Art of Writing Content and Storytelling.

Poonam Verma

Poonam Verma, a Laja board member and expert in writing about inspiration motivation and women empowerment.

Semira Khaleeli

Semira Khaleeli, a Laja board member and expert in Sales, Communication, Personal Brand & Executive Presence.

Ananya Save

Ananya Save, a Laja board member and an entrepreneur.

Pragattee Jayantilal kanugo

Pragattee Jayantilal kanugo a Laja board member and expert in Acupuncture, Handwriting analysis, logo analysis, Numerology and many more.

Juthika Dcruz

Juthika Dcruz, a LAJA Board Member and a qualified expert in Hypnotherapy, Psychotherapy and various Alternate Energy Healing practices.

OUR Mentors

Jane Shah

Jane is the founder of ZONECFO and a Financial Strategist. She is a dynamic, customer focused, result driven financial strategist and a mentor with over 10 years of experience working with individuals and organizations in the areas of finance. Jane is a financial strategist and facilitator. She is passionate about sharing her lessons with individuals and businesses to understand the basics of finances and how to be on the growth level. She has extensive expertise in working with diverse businesses and helping them put the Financial System and Processes in place. Her years of experience, business sense and entrepreneurship make her a wonderful mentor at LAJA.

Namrata Jain

Namrata is a Life Coach, Psychotherapist, Healer, Corporate Trainer, Relationship Counselor, Author, and Mentor. A regular feature with her advice columns in the news papers, Namrata has a whole body of work under her belt. Having worked with many Corporate, Schools, Collages and Individuals; Namrata has a vast experience in understanding human mentality. As a mentor to LAJA, Namrata shares her valuable inputs during the designing of programs, seminars and talks. Her keen sense of catching the pulse of the crowd has been a great boon for team LAJA.

OUr Supporters

OUr Supporters

For any venture to be successful, you need a great team and a wonderful set of people who support and encourage you. LAJA has the good fortune of having a wonderful team of supporters who not just believe in LAJA and it’s team, but wholeheartedly support each and every initiative undertaken by LAJA.