Help Rural Women Gain Essential Business Skills

Dear Mann Deshi Friends and Supporters,

Thank you very much for your continuous support to Mann Deshi Udyogini (B-School for Rural Women).  Over the past year, Mann Deshi trained roughly 13,400 students through its Business Schools and Mobile Buses; over 60% of whom attended its financial literacy and Deshi MBA program. Mann Deshi dedicated more time and resources, especially in the past six months, in ensuring their basic financial literacy and Deshi MBA targets were not only met, but actually exceeded. Here are some highlights:

• 20% increase in the total number of students enrolled in 2010-11 (13,382) compared with 2009-10 (11,130)
• Almost three-fold increase in the number of students enrolled in financial literacy in 2010-11 (6,565) compared with 2009-10 (2,280)

 273 Deshi MBA entrepreneurs trained in the first year of launching the flagship program (January 2010), almost 10% higher than the estimated number.  Deshi Entrepreneurs Project enables business women to grow their business to their own benefit of the entire community.

Over the past year, Mann Deshi’s senior team has worked to transition the culture of the organization from being vocational training centric towards a management and financial training focus. Their new sentiment is reflected in action – Mann Deshi’s senior team recently created three new mid-management level positions: Financial Literacy Coordinator, Deshi MBA Coordinator, and Business School Program Development Officer. The first two positions helps direct a greater amount of internal capacity, resources and management towards the financial literacy and Deshi MBA programs.  Mann Deshi has also established partnership with ACCION.  ACCION’s financial literacy and Dialogue on Business modules are very similar in their objectives and target audience to Mann Deshi’s financial literacy and Deshi MBA programs. 

Major Happenings at Mann Deshi, Press Coverage and More:

• December / January 2010 – Launch of Deshi MBA
• February – Spoke at Indian Philanthropy Forum
• February – Dasra Social-Impact week two
• March – EdelGive Social Innovation Honors 2010 (Livelihood Category) award received by EdelGive Foundation on March 4, 2010
• Short listed for Women Exemplar Award launched by Confederation of Indian Industry
• May – Dasra Social-Impact week three
• May – Won Dasra Social-Impact Peer Grant funding
• August – Introduction of e-card technology
• Two new schools opened in Hubli and Satara, bringing total to 5
• Certification by International Standardization for Organizations (ISO)
• Membership in World Organization of Credit Council Unions (WOCCU)
• November – Mann Deshi invited for Business Event Meeting with US President Barack Obama on November 6, 2010
• Chosen semi-finalists in Ashoka Changemakers’ “Property Rights: Identity, Dignity & Opportunity for All” Competition
• Chetna Sinha, founder of Mann Deshi nominated for CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2010 for the “Public Service” category
• February – Visit to Mann Deshi HQ at Mhaswad by Lael Brainard, US Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs

 Again thank for your support to B-School.  Mann Deshi appreciates our donors support. 

 Sincerely Yours,

 Vanita Shinde

Links:

• Rural B-School catching global attention
• How illiterate women became entrepreneurs