Building Community Through Co-ops

THREADS OF EMPOWERMENT

Since our founding in 1980, empowering women has been at the heart of what we do. Our mission goes beyond creating beautiful, hand embroidered garments--it's about transforming lives. Early on, we grew quickly, but were faced with a fundamental question: stay with a model that paid women fairly but kept them as workers, or take a leap and help them form cooperatives to become business owners.

We chose cooperatives. It wasn't easy--starting and running a business in India is traditionally seen as a man's role. But we knew these women were capable of more. Co-ops required managers to handle schedules, deliveries, supplies, and workloads, while also building trust and shared responsibility. It was a big shift, and some women were hesitant at first.

Today, those same women and many more are thriving. Dozens of women managers are leading their co-ops and fostering incredible communities. They've forged deep bonds, offering each other encouragement and support--not just in work, but in life. Together, they inspire each other to grow, tackle challenges, and achieve more than they thought possible.

This is the power of MarketPlace: creating opportunity, fostering connection, and transforming lives.