Projects
01
What is Threads of Empowerment?
Threads of Empowerment is a nonprofit business initiative dedicated to uplifting women in underserved and low-income communities through the power of creativity and entrepreneurship. Our mission is to unlock the potential of these women, enabling them to enhance their financial stability and overall well-being. By leveraging my leadership, teamwork, and communication skills, I successfully launched this project to create a meaningful and lasting impact on their lives.
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We support rural and urban women in India who possess artistic or craft skills but lack knowledge in sales, marketing, and product development. These women, whose husbands work as factory laborers, typically have basic sewing and embroidery skills. We help them by providing a market to sell their creations and earn an income. Specifically, we collaborate with schools and local businesses in the US to get their logos embroidered on caps. All profits are then distributed to these women. By offering resources and market access, we aim to provide them with a pathway to financial independence and stability while allowing for creative expression.
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Purpose
Our mission is to create job opportunities for women in sectors that are traditionally inaccessible to them. We are committed to nurturing the often overlooked talents of these women and equipping them with the skills that employers value for the future. Through mentorship, access to resources, and financial support, we empower women to pursue entrepreneurship and turn their abilities into successful ventures.
Foundation
I created this project due to my compassion and my desire to help out those that had skills, but lacked the resources or knowledge to make their skills useful and profitable for themselves to lead a better life for themselves and their families.
Training
Most of the women working under our organization are already familiar with basic stitching and sewing and are proficient enough that they can learn the rest while on the job. As for those that need help, some of our senior and more experienced workers are always ready to help them out.
Working
We engage women from underprivileged sectors in India, primarily in Rajasthan, inviting them to participate in this endeavor. We supply women with the necessary raw materials for crafting the products, which are then marketed and sold to various organizations with the aim of generating substantial revenue which can be reinvested into our organization. Through this initiative, we provide a meaningful platform for them to showcase their skills and earn a living.
The Youth Venture Program worked to promote the San Ramon community’s understanding of the American Enterprise System, as well as expose middle school students to the concept of free market.
1) Introduce students to business concepts and American Enterprise education.
Participants of The Youth Venture Program attended weekly workshops and explored values of the American Enterprise system, such as innovation, competitive market dynamics, product development, ethical business practices, decision-making, and profit maximization. At the Youth Venture Fair, students listened to guest speakers who shared their professional experience in the world of business.
2) Provide a platform for students to create real start-ups.
Over the course of the five-week program, students worked one-on-one with high school mentors in order to create their own ventures. Students followed a business creation plan, completing market research, developing a product, and brainstorming marketing ideas and financial projections along the way.
Youth Venture Fair
The Youth Venture business fair took place on February 13 at Dougherty Valley High School. This fair served served as a culmination of students’ experiences in the Youth Venture program, and gave them an opportunity to implement the business concepts they had learned to a real life scenario. Students set up booths and pitched their creative business ideas to a panel of judges who acted as potential investors and asked follow-up questions to the participants.
Over 80 members of the San Ramon community attended the fair and supported the iniatives taken by middle school students in the district. Family and community members alike ventured around the room, listening to pitches and engaging with the different products and services on display. Each participant was graded on the quality and effectiveness of their presentation based on a standardized rubric, with the top three finalists pitching their products to the entire community. The audience then voted for the first, second, and third place winners.
Community leaders and entrepreneurs gave keynote addresses to attendees of the Youth Venture business fair. Kady Srinivasan, Chief Marketing Officer of Lightspeed Commerce, spoke about her endeavors in the business sector, as well as the importance of developing
meaningful businesses that will transform society. Next, Mohit Tiwari, a Product Manager at Google, emphasized the need for students to develop entrepreneurial skills at a young age, as well as explore job sectors that are niche or underrated. Lastly, Ganesh Harinath, the CEO and co-founder of Fiducia AI, took the stage and divulged into some of the necessary skills modern-day companies look for when hiring. This information allowed middle school entrepreneurs to gain real-world understanding of the job market.
Partnership with small Businesses
The American Enterprise System is built upon collaboration between corporations, the government, and neighborhood associations. Therefore, to exemplify this facet of the system, the Youth Venture team partnered with student-run businesses on Dougherty’s campus. The businesses catered at the Youth Venture fair and served as an example of professional ventures to the middle school entrepreneurs present. Further, the presence of the businesses at the fair increased their recognition and positive reception in the San Ramon community, growing their sales and social media presence. communities.
Impact
Impact on Windemere and Gale Ranch Middle Schools: The Youth Venture program allowed the young participants to take their first step into their professional careers while exploring the principles of business in-depth. For most participants, this program was their first ever exposure of the world of business, allowing them to build knowledge for future careers in business. Further, students gained proficient financial literacy, communication, and innovation abilities.
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Impact on Dougherty Valley High School: DVHS students had the opportunity to take on meaningful leadership roles while gaining experience in mentoring and creating lesson plans for younger students. Mentors and managers stepped up to their roles and learned to appreciate the process of business development. This experience set students up for future internship and research set students up for future internship and research opportunities within business.
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Impact on Community: The local San Ramon community benefited from having a population of young entrepreneurs with creative ideas and mindsets. Further, the Youth Venture Program engaged over 250 members of the community, including students, families, judges, and the audience of the fair. This project united people of various backgrounds together on the basis of their shared love for entrepreneurship.
Impact on Small Businesses: Small businesses that ran stalls at the Youth Venture fair saw an increase in sales and publicity due to increasing social media traffic. This led to an increase in profits, which ultimately fulfilled the project leads‘ goal of giving back of giving back to the community from which small businesses were founded.
Next Steps
The Youth Venture team is working with the DVHS FBLA Chapter to reinstitute the Youth Venture Program as an official year-long program in the coming year. Our goal is to create a more in-depth and comprehensive curriculum which will raise awareness of the American Enterprise system. We hope to rebrand as “Entrepreneurship 101,” and equip 5th-8th graders with the knowledge needed to succeed in the fields of business and entrepreneurship. Our secondary aim is to convert each winning business idea into an actual venture or start-up, by connecting student entrepreneurs with experienced business professionals who have the time and resources to mentor students and kickstart their projects. Through the provision of real-world experience, the Youth Venture team stays committed to its goal of making realistic progress.