Rashmi Bharti
Rashmi , co-founder of Avani, has been working in the field of rural development for the past 22 years. Rashmi’s belief in craft as an expression of creativity for communities led her to explore this creativity to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of the hard working women and men, living in remote villages of Kumaon. Rashmi’s commitment to the capacity building of rural women and respect for the natural resources of mother earth was instrumental in setting up the Kumaon Earthcraft Self Relaint Co-operative (EarthCraft), an artisan’s collective enterprise producing naturally dyed silk and wool textiles and lifestyle products. Her work has been instrumental in the empowerment of rural youth, especially women, resulting in the development of an entirely rural team of managers of Avani and EarthCraft. Her belief and practice of conservation based sustainable design is inherent in all her work. For more information on Avani, visit www.avani-kumaon.org.