Empowering Women-led Micro-enterprises in India: Young Changemakers Partner with Rang De to Drive Social Investment

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

ChangeWarrior Tribe:

Sarah Mohapatra – Grade 11, Yak High school
Devika Khaitan – Grade 12, Step by Step School
Meenal Sivashankar – Grade 12, The Brigade School
Kavya Modi – Grade 9, Silver Bells School

Project Focus: UN SDG 5 & 10

At TribesforGOOD we believe in empowering the underprivileged by providing access to resources and opportunities. As part of their summer program, our students recently undertook this challenge and partnered with Rang De, a peer-to-peer lending platform that enables social investment in entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs in India.

The Underlying Problem:
Micro-entrepreneurs such as farmers, shopkeepers, and tailors face difficulties in obtaining financial aid, which obstructs their ability to escape poverty. According to a report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), only 33% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India have access to formal credit. The report also highlighted that around 68% of Indian SMEs have unmet financing needs, which hinders their growth and limits their ability to create jobs and contribute to the economy. Many individuals who are privileged are unaware of the benefits of peer-to-peer lending and its potential to boost the economy collectively. To create a financially-inclusive community of self-reliant entrepreneurs, particularly women, in India, it is necessary to tap into this vast pool of potential investors.

The Action Plan: Our team of young changemakers started by doing a preliminary study wherein they attended a session to understand the subject of microcredit and social investment better. They also interacted with women survivors of human trafficking through the NGO, KShamata, in Maharashtra, which helped them understand the financial plight of women in vulnerable backgrounds.

Next, each member of the team aimed to achieve a social investment goal of INR 10,000. They identified potential investors in their networks and prepared a pitch that listed the benefits of investing in women-led micro and small businesses, including return on investment. They also learned how to initiate and complete the investment process on Rang De’s platform.

They undertook the following steps:

• Pitching the importance of social investment to peers, family members, teachers, colleagues of parents, neighbors, and others
• Explaining the investment process and providing interested individuals with a referral code to make the investment
• Following up with investors to ensure that their investment was complete and that the goal of INR 10,000 was reached
• Explaining how investors could continue the engagement by reinvesting

Working Around Constraints: The team faced some challenges, such as explaining the difference between social investment and crowdfunding and convincing people to become investors. However, they were able to overcome these challenges through their perseverance and dedication.

While many social impact projects are focused on what the underprivileged had to do to improve their situation, this project put the onus on the privileged folks. The tribe was not only able to raise the money to be invested in women-led micro-businesses, but they also brought out a new level of awareness that change can be mobilized with our existing privileges. More importantly, they emphasized that change can happen in the present if we all worked together.

Over 1750 Young ChangeMakers have made a positive impact in their community and have worked on crucial topics impacting 5000+ young students and adults from economically weaker sections. They have gathered new skills, networked with industry experts and other ChangeWarriors, and found solutions to real-world problems, all in a few weeks!

To start your changemaking journey apply to Global Challenges & Social Justice Summer Program today.