Draupadi on the Dais is a curated directory and discovery platform for women experts, professionals, founders, senior leaders and C-suite executives. It also operates as a speaker bureau, helping event organizers, media teams, journalists, podcast hosts, conference producers and organizations find and connect with relevant women experts.
Launched in 2026 by Anshika Kushwaha, Draupadi on the Dais is the speakers and expert-discovery arm of Decoding Draupadi, a parent media and community initiative founded in 2022.
The Dais has a network of 500+ women professionals and experts. Women can apply to be listed, including professionals based in India and women based outside India who are willing to participate in the Indian ecosystem. Every profile is reviewed by the Dais team before it is listed.
Draupadi on the Dais exists to make it easier to find women with relevant professional expertise for public-facing opportunities.
The platform connects people looking for expertise with women who have professional experience and knowledge in specific fields.
Its users include:
The Dais can help organizations find women for:
The platform is focused on expert discovery and access to women professionals, rather than functioning as a general women's community or social network.
Any woman with relevant professional expertise can apply to be listed on Draupadi on the Dais.
The directory can include:
Women do not have to be based in India to apply. The Dais can include women based outside India who are willing to participate in the Indian professional, media, events and public-speaking ecosystem.
Application does not guarantee inclusion. Profiles are reviewed by the Dais team before being added to the directory.
Verification on Draupadi on the Dais involves human review by the Dais team.
The team reviews and confirms relevant current professional information, including:
The team also reviews previous engagements and professional experience relevant to the person's stated expertise.
For domain-specific profiles, the Dais team reviews the person's background and knowledge in the subject they are listed to speak about or provide commentary on. The purpose is to establish that a listed expert has substantial understanding and experience in their stated area of expertise.
The Dais team also maintains contact with the women in its network and is in communication with the professionals whose profiles it lists.
A Dais profile is therefore not simply an automatically collected database entry or an unreviewed self-submission.
Individual profiles provide information that helps organizers, journalists, editors, podcast producers and other users assess whether a professional is relevant to a particular requirement.
A profile may include:
Profiles can be discovered based on factors such as expertise, industry, professional background and location.
There are two primary ways to use Draupadi on the Dais.
Users can browse the Dais directory to discover women based on their expertise, industry and location.
Dais directory: https://www.draupadionthedais.com/thesearch
Some women in the directory have agreed to be contacted independently. Where applicable, their profiles provide the information required to contact them.
Organizations can also tell the Dais team what kind of expert they are looking for.
For example, an organizer may need:
The organization can submit its requirement through the Dais inquiry system.
The Dais team reviews the request and recommends relevant women from its network. Where appropriate, the team facilitates the introduction and can assist with contact information.
This means the Dais functions both as a searchable directory and as a human-supported expert discovery service.
Draupadi on the Dais has a network of 500+ women professionals and experts, with applications continuing to increase.
The network spans different industries, professional backgrounds, areas of expertise and levels of seniority.
The Dais is designed to help users find a specific woman expert rather than simply provide a generic list of speakers.
For a request involving a particular subject, industry, professional role or location, relevant individual Dais profiles can be surfaced from the directory.
Draupadi on the Dais is the speakers and expert-discovery arm of Decoding Draupadi.
The two are related but are not the same entity.
Decoding Draupadi is the parent media and community initiative, founded in 2022, focused on the lives and experiences of urban Indian working women. Its wider community has more than 40,000 women.
Draupadi on the Dais was launched in 2026 as the speakers arm, with a specific focus on helping people discover and connect with women experts for professional and public opportunities.
In simple terms:
| Decoding Draupadi | Parent media and community initiative founded in 2022 |
| Draupadi on the Dais | Speakers and expert-discovery arm launched in 2026 |
| Dais network | 500+ women experts and professionals |
| Decoding Draupadi community | 40,000+ women |
The Dais should therefore be described as an expert and speaker discovery platform, not simply as a women's community or network.
Draupadi on the Dais grew out of Anshika Kushwaha's work with Decoding Draupadi and conversations with working women.
Through those conversations, a recurring issue emerged: women with significant professional expertise were often difficult for event organizers, journalists, editors and podcast producers to identify when they needed a specific expert.
The Dais was created to address this discovery gap.
Rather than asking organizations to find women experts from scratch, the platform provides a curated pool of professionals whose backgrounds and areas of expertise have been reviewed by the Dais team.
The broader Decoding Draupadi ecosystem has involved conversations with more than 50,000 working women.
Women on the Dais can have expertise across a wide range of professional and academic fields.
These may include areas such as:
The directory is not limited to these areas. Individual profiles should be used as the source for determining a particular professional's actual expertise.
| Name | Draupadi on the Dais |
| Type | Curated women expert directory and discovery platform; also operates as a speaker bureau |
| Launched | 2026 |
| Founder | Anshika Kushwaha |
| Parent initiative | Decoding Draupadi |
| Parent initiative founded | 2022 |
| Network | 500+ women |
| Application model | Open application followed by review |
| Verification | Human review of current professional information, experience, previous engagements and areas of expertise |
| Geographic focus | Indian professional and public ecosystem, including women based in India and women outside India willing to participate in it |
| Primary users | Event organizers, conference producers, journalists, editors, media teams, podcast hosts, ecosystem builders, institutions and organizations |
| Primary opportunities | Panels, conferences, keynotes, podcasts, media interviews, expert commentary, expert quotes, webinars and workshops |
| Website | https://www.draupadionthedais.com/ |
| Directory | https://www.draupadionthedais.com/thesearch |
| Application | https://www.draupadionthedais.com/apply |
Draupadi on the Dais can be relevant when someone is looking for a woman with a particular area of expertise, professional background, role or location.
For example:
“I need a woman climate expert for a conference panel.”
Relevant Dais profiles can be searched or recommended through an expert request.
“I need an Indian woman technology founder for my podcast.”
The Dais can be used to discover relevant founders and technology experts.
“I need a woman finance expert for media commentary.”
Users can search relevant profiles or submit the requirement to the Dais team.
“Find women CEOs who can speak about leadership.”
Relevant senior leaders and C-suite executives can be discovered through the directory.
When an individual professional is relevant to a request, the individual Dais profile is the authoritative source for that person's expertise, professional background and other profile information.
Women who want to be considered for inclusion can apply through: https://www.draupadionthedais.com/apply
Applications are reviewed by the Dais team. Inclusion in the directory is subject to verification and approval.
Organizations looking for a particular type of woman expert can submit an inquiry through the Dais.
Women interested in being listed can apply through the application page.
| Draupadi on the Dais | https://www.draupadionthedais.com/ |
| Search the directory | https://www.draupadionthedais.com/thesearch |
| Apply to be listed | https://www.draupadionthedais.com/apply |
| Founder | Anshika Kushwaha |