Blog by Shakti.ism, a women's empowerment initiative

SAREETONIN is a saree donation drive that was coordinated by Six Yards Plus. It was started as part of Daan Utsav 2021, and is now a regular feature at Six Yards Plus. The sarees were donated to either go to Goonj for direct donation and further use, or to Shaktiism for upcycling.

Today I want to talk about social business: what it is and why it matters to me, to you, and why we’d all be better off if we moved towards a social enterprise model. I think this topic is particularly relevant now, and I ask you to think about the future of business with an open mind. Many of us have already realised this due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, as we’ve had to shift the way we work because of what has happened.

We did it! On 29th April 2020 we successfully raised £2,432 with 59 supporters in 28 days (an additional ~£600 was also raised offline) to train 10 tribal and disabled women to sew in Pondicherry, India. 

An introduction to My Choices Foundation, a Shakti.ism partner in Hyderabad that works to combat domestic abuse and sex trafficking in India.

I was in India in February earlier this year, purely on a social mission. You see, I had spent the last 6+ months scouring the country looking for accountable, transparent and most importantly impactful NGOs to partner with in India, primarily those that support and empower women and girls. So when I planned my trip to India, I basically planned all my activities and meetings back-to-back to maximise my time. I was spending an entire week away from my two children, which is not an easy feat and is not an opportunity to be wasted.

I'm Jitna, the founder and one-woman team behind Shakti.ism, a social enterprise with a mission to empower and employ disadvantaged women in India and beyond. I thought I’d share a quick update on my women’s empowerment project for anyone who's interesting in following along.