Meet Deepa Pant, founder of SVATANYA, whose mission is to empower underprivileged women with financial independence that comes with a dignified job. SVATANYA is a Delhi-based social enterprise that trains women to make handcrafted products

Bastar se Bazaar Tak is working to fill a gap in available work for forest-dwelling families in one of India’s poorest regions.

The co-founders of EcoOpus are strengthening the biomass supply chain in India to benefit farmers, the local economy, and the environment.

AVAL is a social enterprise dedicated to providing skills training and sustainable livelihoods for women from socially and economically disadvantaged communities in rural Tamil Nadu.

Husband and wife duo, Yashwant Suthar and Neelam Singh, founded Lootel, a chain of smart restroom cafés that provides restroom services to the public, while creating dignified and well-paying work for its jobholders.

Shineel, Founder of The House of Artisans (THOA) has always been interested in the origins and stories behind every product she comes across. When she learned how little the talented artisans in India earn for their handcrafted products, she decided to help create better opportunities for them.

Entrepreneur, Neelam Jain, is creating equal opportunity for the Trans community in India through job training and placement with the aim of creating inclusive workplaces.

The co-founders of Shoegaro, an Agra-based footwear company, are equipping artisan shoemakers with the skills and network needed to revive the city’s cherished footwear art.

Megha and Shipra started their company, KalaGhar, to help the local artisans in Odisha design and sell eco-friendly home décor items on a global level.

Rajesh Kumar Oza has a vision to empower the tribal communities in Udaipur, Rajasthan through increased family incomes. His business, Jovaki Agro, is doing just that.

Umang Shridhar grew up in a small village in Madhya Pradesh, and decided to use her commerce degree to start a company, KhaDigi, to employ and empower local artisans after seeing the poor conditions and poverty they face.

Jayanti Mahapatra started her business, Manikstu Agro to create local jobs and improve farmer incomes in Odisha, India. Her mission is to change the landscape of goat farming to keep farmers from migrating in search of work.

Yogesh Kumar left a career in engineering to start a company that’s fighting gender inequality and poverty by giving women access to jobs traditionally reserved for men.

Ketan Parmar, founder of Krishi Naturals, believes organic farming can be a solution to the insufficient incomes and poor milk yields faced by small-scale dairy farmers in India today.

Priyanka Khandelwal started her company, Abira Creations, with one sole purpose in mind: empowering women. She employs traditionally marginalized women in the slum regions near Pune, India, to create jewelry and fashion accessories.

Abhinav and Vasanthi share a passion for local crafts and nature-inspired design and together started their apparel brand, Peoli, to create livelihood opportunities for the women in Almora.

Sumanth and Sonali, had a vision to create a sustainable pottery in rural India and the drive to empower the underprivileged rural community in the process.

With a degree in Textile Design from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Abhishek aims to bring design, innovation and technology to underprivileged and unorganized artisan communities.

Manan Majithia’s company, YouCare, provides training in caregiving services to young and low-income women and connects them with jobs as medical attendants and nannies.

Creating opportunities for rural women with exotic flavors of pickles

Jitendra Yadav comes from an agricultural family. That’s why he is passionate about offering safe, nutritious foods to consumers in a way that will increase profits for farmers.

Western Odisha Is one of the poorest regions of India. But that’s what drew Ambika Satapathy and Sadananda Satapathy to the region to empower small scale farmers and tribal women in the region.

Looking at the glaring gaps in the organic farming ecosystem in West Bengal, Ekta Jaju started an organic company called ONganic in 2015 with a vision to create better livelihoods for farmers, health & wellness for consumers and a sustainable planet.

Dr. Kavitha Sairam has had a passion for science since a very young age. That’s why she’s on a mission to use science to address global farming problems, particularly the issues surrounding biofertilizers.

Vinay Kothari’s company, GO DESi, is an Indian confectionery brand that sells candies and treats inspired by regional flavors in Indian cuisine. All of GO DESi’s products are sourced, packaged and branded by the farmers who grow them.

Founded by Rakesh and Namita in 2014, GramShree’s mission is to establish an innovative marketing system to market the produce of poor, rural families in India.

The Taank Brothers aim to create self-sustaining employment opportunities by helping tribal farmers farm and sell Kadaknath poultry on a commercial level. Read more about their aptly named social enterprise, TaankBrothers Ventures. >>

Aneel Kumar Ambavaram grew up in a Kadapa, a village in India known for its labor-intensive sweet orange cultivation. He left is 15-year corporate career to uplift sweet orange farmers, creating new sources of income for the poorest of the poor.

When Selvakumar Varadharajan, founder and Chief Executive of Laymen Agro Ventures settled in Bangalore to start a family, he and his wife soon began to long for the farm-fresh produce and dairy of their childhood that was not available in urban India. This prompted them to move back to Coimbatore to start a venture that would provide urban citizens with access to fresh agro-products while improving the livelihoods of small-holder farmers and rural youths in the process.

Reema Sathe is on a mission to improve the lives of small-holder farmers in India through her company Happy Roots.