Founder and Chair of the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA); Founding member of 'The Elders'; Co-founder and former chair of Women’s World Banking; Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation; Received the honorary doctorate degree in Humane Letters by Harvard University; Recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India; Recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership and the Right Livelihood Award; Winner of the Niwano Peace Prize for 2010 for her contribution to the uplift of poor women in India.