by Essmart | Oct 16, 2012 | Blog, State of Essmart
From our monthly(ish) newsletter, which you can subscribe to here: Greetings from India! Essmart has been on the ground in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India for about two months now. Much has happened since our last email update. Selvan, our Director of Field Operations,...
by diana | Oct 13, 2012 | Blog, Thoughts and Ideas
A few months back, Selvan met a Dasra representative at a conference held at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. She told him about the Dasra Social Impact Program, an executive education program that trains decision makers of leading nonprofits and...
by jackie | Oct 4, 2012 | Blog, Thoughts and Ideas
“An outsider’s understanding of local conditions in India.” This is something which both Diana and I, as co-founders of Essmart, have been told we have. I cannot argue with this statement. I am not Indian, I did not grow up in India, I am not aware of all the...
by Essmart | Sep 13, 2012 | Blog, Field Notes, Thoughts and Ideas
Both of the images below are taken from a weekly market in a village 15 km from Pollachi. People living in villages around this market come here every week to buy essential household items. This market primarily sells fresh farm vegetables, but a large number of...
by diana | Sep 11, 2012 | Blog, Field Notes, Thoughts and Ideas
This isn’t an update from the field, but it’s still part of the entire experience of building Essmart out here in India. Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in an “International Faculty Seminar on Social Entrepreneurship” at the Tata Institute of Social...
by diana | Aug 28, 2012 | Aug '12 India, Blog, Field Notes
Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to accompany Selvan to shop #2 of Essmart’s 17, which is located maybe 20 minutes outside of Pollachi. Around 5:30 pm, Selvan and I set up a little solar lantern demonstration center in front of this store. We propped the...
