INTRODUCTION Figure 4 OUR STORY

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1 ! INTRODUCTION Shakti is a fashion line partnering with rural villages in India to empower women and enhance internal economic development. Evidence suggests that income accruement significantly increases women s empowerment in India. 1 However, in rural India, employment opportunities and conditions for women are often poor. 2 TahTajpur, Uttar Pradesh, is no exception: only sixteen out of 177 women in the village have obtained formal employment. 3 By connecting a local female-operated stitching center in TahTajpur to the American market for loungewear and selling approximately 1,746 pairs of pants, we will increase center earnings by $20,568, which will increase employment opportunities for women by enabling the center to hire 20 additional women, purchase five additional machines, and fund $18,000 in education and leadership development opportunities within the village (Figure 4). Our long-term goal is to replicate our impact chain across rural villages in India to empower women and influence economic growth. OUR STORY Geeta Rani, 18, was unable to complete secondary school due to her family s inability to pay. I had to discontinue my studies after [Intermediate], she explained, but now that I earn money on my own, I have joined B.A classes. Geeta s plight is a common problem in rural villages across India-- women consistently exhibit low levels of education and employable skills. 4 However, Geeta is one of ten women from TahTajpur, Uttar Pradesh, India to earn an advanced certification in stitching. Together they form the Raj Lakshmi Centre, one of the only sources of formal employment for women in the village. They operate on a contract basis sewing clothes, bags and scarves. Although these women were eager to work, they struggled to obtain contracts from outside the village--and that s where we come in. We met Geeta and the Raj Lakshmi team this summer through our work with Mrida Group, a social enterprise start-up based in New Delhi, India. Mrida works with corporate partners to implement sustainable rural development interventions across India. With initial financial assistance from Mrida, we designed and developed a line of Indian-style palazzos, flowy pants distinctive by their bright colors, bold patterns and comfortable fit. To gain initial traction, we sold our palazzos at the University of Virginia this fall. The endeavor was extremely successful: demand for the product was high and we sold all 70 pants in less than three weeks. We have called our initiative Shakti, a Hindi word for strength, to represent the courage it takes to stand up and seek work in a village where only five in ten women are literate. 5 With additional funding, we seek to scale up and expand our business to increase production efficiency by supporting the Raj Lakshmi Centre and the village. Our objectives are twofold: in the short term, we will invest in capacity expansion by funding advanced training programs to increase labor force participation among women. We will also invest in working capital by purchasing stitching machines and other raw materials. In the long-term, we will partner with the Raj Lakshmi Centre to invest in social development initiatives within the village. We hope to increase female education attainment and create a leadership development program for the tailors so that the center establishes itself as a business. The end-goal is to generate sustainable livelihood for women in the village and improve their quality of life, and to replicate this model in similar villages across India.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Swain, Ranjula Bali, and Fan Yang Wallentin. "Does microfinance empower women? p Srivastava, Nisha, and Ravi Srivastava. "Women, work, and employment outcomes in rural India." p Figure 1, TahTajpur Baseline Survey. Mrida Group. Jan Srivastava & Srivastava, p TahTajpur Baseline Survey. Mrida Group. Jan 2015.! 1!

2 OUR STAKEHOLDERS 1. Fabric Supplier We source our fabric and prints from an NGO in Delhi that trains and employs women living in urban slums. We also work with their designers to create our prints. 2. Raj Lakshmi Stitching Centre The initiative is a business opportunity for the center. In the short run, additional work increases earnings for the women to support themselves and their families. Long-term investment in the center will provide more vocational training, expand working capital, and fund social development initiatives to benefit the employees and their families. These efforts will fortify the center's establishment as a small business and facilitate more contracts (Figure 2). 3. The Village There are several positive externalities generated by women working. First, we ourselves have observed that income accruement in TahTajpur has changed hostile attitudes towards women working outside the home. Second, we plan to create and invest in the village through strategic social development programming implemented by Shakti and RJC. 4. Our Customers Our customers enjoy premium, hand-printed, hand-stitched rayon palazzos that are comfortable and versatile. They are worn informally as lounge wear but can also be worn more formally to work or school. Our main target market are adults ages We are currently using UVA as a sample target market to get customer feedback and iterate our product based on our customers needs. The palazzos connect our customers to the challenges women face around the world the empowerment platform adds value and meaning to the purchase. PROOF OF CONCEPT In the following section, we outline key cost considerations, demonstrate capacity for impact, and provide preliminary market research.we incurred approximately $10.67 per unit to produce the first 70 palazzos, which includes raw materials, production, and transportation (Figure 3). We expect our material costs to decrease as we negotiate a long-term contract with our fabric and print supplier. We sold the pants for $25 each and generated $1750 in revenue, or $13.25 per unit. Including 10% contingency, we earned $947. Figure 4 provides a preliminary impact assessment to determine the revenue required to employ twenty additional women, invest in higher education for thirty employees, and create a leadership development program to support the enterprise. Most importantly, we found that the center requires approximately $183 to hire a new employee: with our current input costs and margins, for every ten pants we sell, the center can offer one new stitching position. Figures 5, 6 and 7 show the estimated palazzo market and our potential reach. Market analysis shows that the women s leggings category, which palazzos are a part of, has seen consistently strong growth in the period. With this in mind, we hope to reach 10% of the female undergraduate population across four major universities in Virginia in our next phase of growth. We anticipate selling 4,504 pants through Universities alone. EXPANSION PLAN 1) Collaboration with UVA Student Organizations & Other University Campuses In the next 6 months, we aim to establish our presence at other University campuses through newly established collaborative efforts. These new universities include Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech University and James Madison University. We are currently in dialogue with both! 2!

3 ! culturally and fashion oriented student organizations on Grounds and seek to provide distinct, and sustainable selling platforms for Shakti. 2) Expanding Reach to Greater Charlottesville Community In order to ensure Shakti s gradual, sustainable growth, we have identified two distinct selling opportunities at events outside of UVA to reach Charlottesville s culturally diverse population. These include Farmers Markets and the Artisanal Tom-Tom event held during the Spring Tom Tom Founders Festival. We plan to retain the new customers we engage with through product diversification efforts. 3) Institutional Support A key focus of our initiative is to ensure complete satisfaction for all our stakeholders the women we work with, our customers and society at large. With that in mind, we currently have a broad-base of support working with us to ensure we reach the next stage of growth. These include Mrida Group, a social enterprise which provides both logistical and advisory support to our initiative in Delhi, students from the University of Virginia and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi and an advisor from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow. Our student partners not only contribute greatly to our initiative, but also seek to gain valuable skills and business acumen involved in a social enterprise. Going forward, we envision having more students on our team in order to expand Shakti s presence across regions. POTENTIAL CHALLENGES There are many challenges that come with our expansion, impact, and logistics as we seek to expand globally. First, expansion will require us to train, develop, and manage multiple stitching centers which will increase our costs and reduce margins initially. However, such an expansion would lead to multiple new avenues which will increase sales, increase margins, reduce out-of pocket costs, and higher income for our women. Second, the initiative depends on production in India and distribution in the US, and it will be difficult to maintain a completely efficient logistics chain. However, with experience, more orders and increased profit we hope to establish a reliable supply chain with Mrida s support. Finally, we will need to adjust to the constantly changing needs of the fashion industry. We will diversify our product range and invest in the stitching center to meet these changes. We also realize the harmful effects of rayon production and intend to transition into an eco-friendlier fabric once we maintain a constant revenue stream. TEAM Jane Hammaker is a 4th year student from Rockville, Maryland studying Economics and Politics, and working towards a Master s in Public Policy with a concentration in International Development. Malvika Jain is a 3rd year student from Calcutta, India studying Commerce with concentrations in Finance and Accounting. Raghav Savara is a 2nd year international student from Lagos, Nigeria intending to study Commerce with concentrations in Marketing and Accounting, as well as a major in Economics and a minor in Social Entrepreneurship. Shafat Khan is a 3rd year student from Dhaka, Bangladesh studying Economics with a minor in Social Entrepreneurship. 3!

4 ! APPENDIX Figure 1: Employment Breakdown in TahTajpur Figure 2: Shakti Supply Chain 4!

5 ! Figure 2: Shakti Income Statement Figure 3: Impact Assessment Estimate 5!

6 Figure 4: Women s Leggings - US Market Growth! Figure 5: Women s Leggings Growth Report, Euromonitor Passport Source: US Womenswear Figure 6: College Women Market Outreach Sources: !