Girls and women face a significant disadvantage in India and are regularly discriminated against based solely on their gender. Because of patriarchal cultural norms and increasing school fees, educating girls is often a low priority in impoverished families. This leaves women and girls uneducated and unfit to support themselves or stand up for themselves in a society that is already biased against them. Against all odds, Gayatri Rathod has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. Gayatri currently lives in a very small one-room house with her family of 7. Her mother works as a construction worker. With the help of Kartavya welfare Foundation’s ‘Vidyasha’ India (Hope for education), Gayatri was able to attend D.G Ruparel College of Arts, Science, and Commerce. In school, she discovered a passion for computer programming and she now knows more than enough programming languages to put her in the job market. Because Gayatri’s field requires her to do a lot of practical work on the computer, Vidyasha gifted her a laptop. This way, she has been able to practice programming at home. Attending school and college has given Gayatri the confidence to express herself and put herself out there. Since graduating, she has been applying to jobs at large software companies based in Mumbai, as well as in I.T hubs like Pune and Bangalore. Vidyasha is helping Gayatri with her job search by looking over her application materials, including her resumé. After working for some time, Gayatri hopes to continue her education and earn a Master’s degree in Information Technology, giving her greater access to high paying jobs in the field. Those who contributed to Gayatri’s education have placed her on the path to complete financial independence and autonomy, and she will proudly be the first in her family to achieve this.