How we created a platform to empower rural women through skilling and livelihood.

MeetSurekha
Tripathi

Surekha is a bachelor degree graduate but never entered the workforce

Surekha is from Pampapur, Uttar Pradesh, where she lives with her husband and 2 children

Her family wanted Surekha to be a homemaker - she was
not even allowed to work on the family farm.

I wished to work after completing my graduation, however I got married and had kids, the housework kept increasing and led to time constraints

Women’s workforce participation in India is one of the lowest in the world.

Surekha wanted to support her family and ensure that her children will have the chance to succeed in life.

I always wanted to work and do something of my own, however I never got the adequate amount of guidance

women in the country do not get an opportunity towards sustained livelihood.

Ranjana, the local Dharma Life Entrepreneur, learnt of Surekha’s desire to learn a new skill and work so encouraged her to join the Jaya program.

Ranjana Yadav is from my neighbouring village and is my friend. She keeps me updated about new opportunities & projects of Dharma Life.

Who is a Dharma Life
Entrepreneur?

DLEs are rural Indian women trained by Dharma Life as  entrepreneurs and behaviour change agents, respected as a leader and community organiser reaching approx. 1,500 households across 3 villages.

JAYA aims to provide a platform that offers guidance, support and opportunities to help women realize their own potential and seek training, development and integration into the workforce 

1

Designed to help rural women recognise their own potential and plant a seed of positive restlessness through a series of locally contextual communication campaigns

Sensitisation

Surekha inducted into a Jaya WhatsApp group of local women in which Dharma Life ran sensitization activities such as the sharing of empowering female quotes and brainstorming business ideas

Motivational
Movie Dialogue

A contest in which Dharma Life Entrepreneurs to recite their favorite movie dialogues on women empowerment and record and share a video

Surekha inducted into a Jaya WhatsApp group of local women in which Dharma Life ran sensitization activities such as the sharing of empowering female quotes and brainstorming business ideas

Your Business Idea

A contest to encourage Dharma Life Entrepreneurs to think of a business idea they would start and a name for that business

Surekha inducted into a Jaya WhatsApp group of local women in which Dharma Life ran sensitization activities such as the sharing of empowering female quotes and brainstorming business ideas

Shared
Experiences

Women sharing life experiences including their growth journeys, pursuit of a goal and life achievements

2

Provides guidance and direction to beneficiaries, delivered by Dharma Life Entrepreneurs - role models who are a trusted voice of change and progress in the village

Counseling

Ranjana told me about various courses including stitching, beauty services and farming. I was always interested in stitching and will learn beauty services at a later stage

In 1 on 1 counselling sessions with Dharma Life Entrepreneur Ranjana, Surekha learnt about the offered Jaya courses and what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur in rural India

3

Jaya courses, curated to suit local preference and opportunities, have been developed by learning experts to ensure delivery of vital, practical information in an accessible and engaging format

Enrollment
& Skilling

Surekha started a stitching course and learnt the required skills through a blended learning journey, which includes self-paced online modules, live sessions in classes, assignments and tests

Online learning was an amazing experience, our instructor was really impressive […] After enrolling in Jaya it felt like I’m back to college

Allows users to easily access JAYA’s skilling courses and join a community of learners through an app and virtual classrooms. Users can also find local job and business opportunities.

The JAYA
Learning
Experience

The JAYA app

is designed to streamline and facilitate learning through innovative, blended learning journeys. and bring it directly into the homes of beneficiaries

4

Assists beneficiaries to find employment or start a business with ongoing mentoring, additional training and support to access government schemes and financing

Livelihood

Surekha completed her course and opened a small home studio.She creates clothes to sell, trains local girls, produces and shares tutorial videos with local women on WhatsApp to help them earning their own livelihood

I earn around 2000 INR per month after deducting the expenses of machinery and materials. This money pays for my children’s books and has gone into our contingency fund.

Since launching Jaya in late 2020, we sensitized 1,20,384 women like Surekha, counselled 42,970, and enrolled 11,476 women into courses. 6,261 have started earning a livelihood through employment or entrepreneurship

We aim to scale the programme through Dharma Life’s network of more than 17,000 Dharma Life Entrepreneurs, reaching over 1 million women.

The Way Forward

Map out local job supply to inform future offering

Expand the course offering to include more skills such as AI coding, etc.

Build in recommendation engine and app personalization

Add focus area around artisans to preserve rural art in a sustainable way

Add skilling partnerships and user-driven courses

Jaya has helped me earn livelihood & shown me the way forward by providing the necessary skill set.... If Jaya keeps supporting us, we will definitely prosper