About the non-profit

The League of Artisans is a non-profit organization that links India's most underprivileged artisan cooperatives to the US marketplace through an innovative financial model that provides both fair wage employment and investments in artisan enterprise development.

Over 20 million artisans in India work in the handicrafts sector. Most of them live below the poverty line and in the county’s most remote areas. They are forced to sell their crafts through middlemen, and often earn less than 5% of the end price of their goods.

The League of Artisans creates sustainable livelihoods for these underprivileged artisans – particularly tribal, rural and women artisans – and thereby, improve their economic and living conditions.

In addition to the marketing of the handmade products created by our partner artisan groups, the League of Artisans also provides artisans with support in the areas of product design and development, supply chain management, and institutional and enterprise building.

All League of Artisan products are brought to market under the brand of LOTUS by LOA. And all of our products are available at www.lotusbyloa.com.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities?

The League of Artisans' brings our partner artisans' products to market through a multi-channel marketing strategy under the brand name of LOTUS by loa. We are currently marketing the products through wholesale, an online store at , and a mail-order catalog.

As the VP of Marketing, I manage the League of Artisans' wholesale marketing and sales strategy. I identify our artisans' most high-quality and market ready products and then identify the largest possible market for that product based on the NGOs capacity to fill orders.

I then present the product and the beautiful story that lies behind the product to buyers across the country. I work a lot directly with the buyers themselves and also with companies' Social Responsibility departments.

Once a store or retailer places an order with the League of Artisans, they receive a Social Impact Report, informing them of the impact that their order has generated in the community. The report includes the fair wage hours of employment they have provided to underprivileged artisans, the percent increase in income flow into the community due to their order, and testimonials from the artisans themselves, telling the buyer how their purchase has improved their lives in concrete terms.

We receive letters from our partner artisans saying that they used the increased wages they earned this month to pay for the medical bills of their ill family members, for their daughter's education, or for more nutritious foods for their families. It is through those letters that we see that the League of Artisans is truly making an impact in the lives of our partner artisans and also investing in a more sustainable future for artisan groups across India.

Most notable milestones

This fall we connected a rural village cooperative in Srikalahasti, Andhra Pradesh and their hand-painted raw silk journals to Barnes and Noble. They are currently on the shelves and in the Barnes and Noble catalog under the League of Artisans' brand.

Hand-embroidered khadi quilts from the Gandhi Ashram will be seen in a range of national home furnishings catalogs in the coming months, including GAIAM, Viva Terra, and the Acacia Catalog. The Gandhi Ashram quilts and bedding will also be featured at ABC Carpet and Home.

In August and this coming January, we will feature the products of all of our partner NGOs at the New York International Gift Fair – the largest trade show for gift items and accessories. Now our line can be found in about 50 boutique stores across the country.

What's the niche?

We're a non-profit marketing company. When individuals purchase products from our online store, www.lotusbyloa.com, and when buyers purchase through our wholesale program, 100% of what they pay is going towards the mission of providing much-needed fair wage employment across India and investing in their artisan enterprises.

We also market on behalf of artisan groups that have yet to be connected to the US market. This means that each of our products is truly unique and has not been distributed in the US marketplace. If you're looking for a distinctive, one-of-a-kind gift that builds a better, more sustainable world for India's underprivileged, shop at www.lotusbyloa.com.

What's the biggest challenge?

Competing in the marketplace with for-profit companies and vendors is definitely a challenge. Companies that can offer products of comparable quality at lower price points because fair trade and fair wages are not integral to their mission certainly makes your job as a marketer more challenging every day. However, at the same time, you meet an increasing number of retail and wholesale buyers who understand and grasp the need for a model like League of Artisans, particularly as we see the divide in India between the haves and the have-nots grow at a rapid rate. Also, purchasing from the League of Artisans provides buyers with the unique opportunity to join their corporate purchasing and corporate giving. We acknowledge all of our buyers on our website under our "Corporate Partners" in the same way that other non-profits acknowledge their corporate donors. Our buyers and customers are our most valuable supporters, for they are the ones who are helping us to achieve our mission of bringing up the income levels of India's most underprivileged artisans.

What's in store for the future?

We're ready to take our online store, www.lotusbyloa.com, to scale after our pilot year. Our vision is to make the site the destination point for all young South Asians who are looking for meaningful gifts that give back to India. Our online store is up and running currently with a range of distinctive fashion and home accessories. Our site showcases both the products and the beautiful stories behind the products.

Best way to keep a competitive edge

Know what's going on in your field. Network with individuals with the same goals so you can learn who's doing what, and how you can best add value to making your shared mission come true.

Stay focused. Understand your niche and where you can add the most value to your cause, be it as a designer, marketer, organizer, technology person, or manager. Don't try to do too much – just identify what you have to add and do it the best you can possibly do. And realize that everyone has skills that can be used to create social change.

Guiding principle in life

Work should be, for the most part, fun. I think we need to occupy ourselves with work that is fun, fulfilling, challenging and allows us to keep perspective of what's truly important. Hearing stories every day about how an order of just a few hundred dollars has allowed a family to provide medical treatment to an ill child or elder helps me to maintain that perspective.

Yardstick of success

Being able to measure concrete and significant changes in income in all of our partner cooperatives due directly to the marketing efforts of League of Artisans. Connecting each of the partner cooperatives that I've worked with to at least one major retailer that has the buying power to provide consistent, full-time employment to the group.

Goal yet to be achieved

Mastering my handstand. Writing a collection of short stories on all the fair trade tales I've collected.

Best practical advice

Ask for advice when you need it. Build a network – an informal advisory board for yourself that consists of someone you can ask for help with numbers, someone who can help you with marketing, someone who can help you with human resources. Always make time for such networking, because it will serve to invigorate your work.

Supportive words from a family member or friend on your venture

I'm so very lucky to have such a supportive family that is always offering their expertise, contacts and most importantly their buying power to my work! But as is the case with all good work, and particularly fair trade, it takes a community of consumers to make a difference. It's not my buying power or marketing alone that is going to make a difference, but all of you who join our community of socially-responsible purchasers.

Mentors

I admire all women business leaders who have infused their work with social responsibility. I am lucky to to have built a network of women business leaders like Priya Haji, CEO of World of Good, Jody Weiss, CEO of PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics and of course Chandrika Tandon, Founder of League of Artisans and Chair of Tandon Capital Associates.

What motivated you to get started?

Before my senior year of college, I took a trip to Guatemala where I was working with communities of war widows in the country's western highlands. The women were creating beautiful handwoven scarves, woven beaded jewelry, and pottery. In a small way, my friend Ruth DeGolia and I started exporting their crafts to the U.S. and re-investing 100% of the profits into their children's education. That marketing effort grew into what is today Mercado Global, a fair trade marketing organization providing employment to 300 women in Guatemala and investments in the education of hundreds of children in its partner communities. When I started my work in Guatemala, I always knew that I wanted to take the same model to India and see how I can use my fair trade marketing skills and contacts to support India's underprivileged artisans. So I joined the League of Artisans just under a year ago, and am now taking this passion of mine of increasing market access for underprivileged artisans to India.

Like best about what you do?

Seeing our sales make a difference in artisans' lives. Hearing about how they are purchasing more nutritious foods, receiving the health care they need, investing in their children's education.

Like least about what you do?

Meeting artisan groups who are very much in need of a market but are not yet creating products that are market ready...

At age 10, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a fashion designer. And what I'm doing now isn't actually much different. A lot of my work involves merchandising, and modifying products such that they are ready to be marketed in the US. I love to design jewelry, and actually one of the cooperatives in India that League of Artisans works with is a jewelry cooperative that makes beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings that I design. One day, I might want to launch my own luxury brand of jewelry that is sourced ethically from women's beading cooperatives all over the world.

What was your first job?

My first job was actually launching Mercado Global. I was an entrepreneur straight out of college. Working at the League of Artisans is the first time that I am working for an established organization and I'm appreciating the opportunity of learning from the organization's founder and accomplished business leader, Chandrika Tandon. Ramya Narayanan a former operations consultant is the Executive Director, and I too have learned much from her as to how to launch a multi-channel marketing strategy and bring together people in the same field to create a platform of marketing experts committed to improving artisans' lives.

Biggest pastime outside of work

I love to practice yoga. No matter how much the work is piling up, I'll be at my yoga studio at least every other day, chanting, practicing and meditating. I also love to read, write, and make jewelry. And of course, spending time with my family and friends.

Person most interested in meeting and why?

Ritu Kumar because I am so enchanted by her clothes and I would want to talk to her about sourcing her next line from the women at the Gandhi Ashram.

Leader in business most interested in meeting and why?

I would love the opportunity to meet Anita Roddick and learn all about how she built The Body Shop as a woman with children and how she still managed to infuse the business with such a strong commitment to social responsibility.

Three interesting facts about yourself

1. Before India, I fell in love with Latin America. I lived in Mexico City and Guatemala and love to salsa.
2. I was named among the "15 People Who Make America Great" by Newsweek Magazine in July 2005 and featured on the cover with Brad Pitt.
3. I would like to write a book one day &ndash perhaps about all the stories I've collected working with the coops in Guatemala, Mexico, and India.

Three characteristics that describe you

1. Creatively driven
2. Somewhat spontaneous
3. Incredibly idealistic

Three greatest passions

1. Beautiful, fair trade crafts
2. Laughing with my family and friends
3. A long, enlightening yoga session.

Favorite book

Oh I have so many... I majored in Comparative Literature in college and studied a lot of Modern Latin American literature. I love to read anything by Garcia Marquez, Fuentes, Cortazar... Pablo Neruda's poetry. And anything by Rohinton Mistry.

Favorite cause

Beyond fair trade and international development, I'd like to get more involved in more women's issues, particularly domestic violence in South Asia and in South Asian immigrant communities.

Is there anything else you!d like to add?

Visit www.lotusbyloa.com and see how simple and fun it is to make a difference in the lives of artisans across India!

Who would you like to be contacted by?

Buyers interested in carrying our line.

Designers interested in working with our partner cooperatives to create new products that will be well-received in the US market.

Marketing experts interested in lending their expertise to making League of Artisans the brand that immediately comes to peoples' minds when they think of socially-conscious, high-quality, distinctive products from India's artisan groups.