Mon Ami Foundation - Blogs #local artisansMon Ami Foundation - Blogs #local artisanshttps://www.monamifoundation.com/blogs/tag/local-artisansWed, 08 Apr 2026 20:22:28 +0530http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[AI and Women’s Day: From Speed to Equality]]>https://www.monamifoundation.com/blogs/post/ai-and-women-s-day-from-speed-to-equalityOn Women’s Day, Mon Ami Foundation reframes AI as a tool for equity, empowering women with knowledge, financial fluency, and partnerships to drive sustainable growth and global progress.]]>
International Women's Day

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming industries and everyday life—automating tasks, accelerating decisions, and reshaping opportunities. Yet, most applications remain focused on efficiency. At Mon Ami Foundation, we believe Women’s Day is the perfect moment to reframe AI as more than a tool for speed. It must become a lever for equity, sustainability, and collaboration.

 

Breaking Information Asymmetry

(SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth)

Women have historically faced barriers due to limited access to information and decision-making tools. AI can dismantle these barriers by democratizing access to knowledge in finance, healthcare, nutrition, and education.

  • The Impact: When women are equipped with AI-driven decision support systems, they can participate more fully in economic activity.
  • The Result: A direct advancement of SDG 8, fostering decent work and economic growth for all.

 

Financial Empowerment as a Catalyst

(SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production)

We know that when women gain access to funds and financial decision-making, they uplift entire families and communities. AI-powered financial literacy tools can amplify this impact by:

  • Simplifying investments and decoding complex loan terms.
  • Forecasting household budgets with precision.
  • Guiding sustainable choices in consumption and production.

By directing resources toward responsible use, AI contributes to SDG 12, ensuring a healthier planet and more resilient local economies.

 

Moving Beyond Literacy to AI Fluency

(SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals)

The social sector has long focused on financial literacy for women. The next frontier is AI fluency—equipping women to use intelligent systems that provide real-time, personalized guidance.

"Whether it’s nutrition apps suggesting affordable, healthy meals or finance dashboards highlighting savings opportunities, these tools can transform women’s agency."

Achieving this requires deep collaboration across governments, social enterprises, and technology innovators. This synergy is the heart of SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

 

Women’s Day Call to Action

On this Women’s Day, let’s reframe AI as a tool for equity, sustainability, and collaboration. By ensuring women have equal access to AI-driven decision support systems, we don't just accelerate gender equality—we accelerate global progress.

 

 

]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 11:03:36 +0530<![CDATA[Why Should All the Turtles Look the Same?]]>https://www.monamifoundation.com/blogs/post/why-should-all-the-turtles-look-the-sameWhy Should All the Turtles Look the Same? In our CraftHub, this question sparks endless debate:  why should all the turtles look the same?  As ]]>
Turtle
Why Should All the Turtles Look the Same?

In our CraftHub, this question sparks endless debate: why should all the turtles look the same? As we build capacity and train artisans to produce multiple units of the same product, we aim for a remarkable 95% likeness across dozens of pieces. It’s a demanding standard, especially when multiple artisans are racing against deadlines. Even when the design criteria are met, subtle differences emerge—tiny variations in curve, finish, or detail.


Our buyers, though supportive of artisan work, often come from a background of purchasing bulk, machine-made imports from neighbouring countries. They are accustomed to absolute uniformity: rows of identical products, each indistinguishable from the next. Against that backdrop, our handcrafted pieces sometimes feel “different.” And so begins the delightful conversation: why should they all look the same?


Machines excel at replication. They erase individuality in favour of efficiency. But handmade products carry the imprint of the human hand—the rhythm of the artisan’s skill, the nuance of their touch, the story of their craft. Each piece is not just an object; it is a signature. When we pause from machine-made perfection, we discover beauty in individuality. The slight differences are not flaws; they are proof of authenticity.


Uniformity has its place in mass production. But in artisan work, sameness risks stripping away the very soul of the craft. Buyers who embrace individuality are not just purchasing a product; they are investing in heritage, creativity, and human connection. Each turtle, while similar, carries its own personality. And isn’t that worth celebrating?


So, the next time someone asks why all the turtles don’t look the same, perhaps the better question is: why would we want them to?

]]>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 11:59:02 +0530<![CDATA[Design Thinking to Interpret Crochet]]>https://www.monamifoundation.com/blogs/post/future-of-handicraft-the-opportunity1

Design Thinking to Interpret Crochet

Crochet, the seemingly effortless counting and repeating of a basic stitch, to create lace-like, intricate products, has captured the imagination of crafters through the ages. However, as craftspeople have followed the same system of product development for years, designs have gradually become redundant, and could spell doom for the future of this craft.

To remain relevant in a marketplace teeming with myriad choices, it is imperative that crochet crafts evolve, incorporating contemporary updates. This is where Anurag Rana, an NID graduate and founder of Mon Ami Foundation, brings in her vast skills and experience as a designer.

Anurags creativity and vision have come together to create unique products, using design as a problem-solving tool. Employing the principles of design thinking, viz. Empathise (understanding user needs),Define (state the problem), Ideate (create ideas), Prototype (create solutions) and Test (try the solutions), Mon Ami Foundation has an innovative line of crochet products. https://www.facebook.com/crochethubindia

Where else could you find a crocheted spider key chain? A fish as a fridge magnet? Or an owl with perfectly aligned eyes to sit on your coffee table?

The Mon Ami Design team, with Anurag at the helm, ensure that all their products have these qualities:
  • Utility value: every feature of the product serves a purpose, so as to maximise the user experience.
  • Functionality – all products are user-friendly. For instance, initially, crochet used wool, feasible for use only in small pockets of India, for a mere 1-2 months annually. A conscious shift was made to crocheting with cotton yarn usable through the year.
  • Aesthetic appeal the look and feel of a product are central to its appeal. Simplicity and elegance go hand-in-hand.
  • Attention to detail All the little things matter. What colour combinations should toys be? How will these colours further stimulate the minds of little children? Are the eyes of the toy aligned?
  • Longevity of design good design is timeless.
Committed to setting up the largest Crochet movement in the country, through extensive skill building efforts, Mon Ami Foundation, in partnership with HCL Foundations Craft Hub, creates new products for the domestic and international markets, keeping the tastes and preferences of customers in mind.

To learn more, visit https://monamifoundation.com/crochet/
]]>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 20:05:59 +0530<![CDATA[Estimating the Economic Impact of interventions Utkarsh Majmudar]]>https://www.monamifoundation.com/blogs/post/future-of-handicraft-the-opportunity2
Estimating the Economic Impact of interventions - Utkarsh Majmudar

Mon Ami undertakes craft related projects that result in proved livelihood for its for its beneficiaries. Companies fund project and part of the funds are used for administration, training, and other purposes. A part of the fund is used to produce craft items which when sold generate both revenue and working capital for the beneficiaries. Once the beneficiaries are trained, they can further train other people to improve their livelihoods.
So, how do we evaluate the outcome of this project? A simple way would be to think in terms of profits earned by the beneficiaries in the future. In a generic sense we can think of the life project as the number of years till which the beneficiaries stabilize. In this example we take it as three years. We assume that the project increases the income of the beneficiaries to 50,000 rupees per beneficiary. We also assume that each beneficiary will train 2 more beneficiaries each year. For this example, the costs associated with production are taken to be 0 but depending on the project there may be material, selling and other costs. Let us also assume that the economic cost of money is 6%, the rate that the beneficiaries can earn on bank deposits. We thus calculate the economic impact of the project:



While it is simplistic to simply add up the net income of the beneficiaries and take that as the total benefit of the project, the correct approach is to find the present value of the benefits:


Thus, the economic benefit of the project is 1.82 crores.



The same approach may be useful while approaching a company to grant money for the project. Suppose a company commits to provides 20 lakhs for the project, the effective economic benefit of the project from the
Providing a clear economic rationale for going ahead with this project. Alternatively, this can be seen as a straight return on investment number (ROI)





Utkarsh Majmudar

Author of Shift: Decisions for a Net Zero World Finance educator trainer and consultant, Bengaluru
A multidimensional professional with nearly two decades of experience encompassing academics and administration at premier business schools in India and working with large corporations in India at GE Capital, iGATE and HSBC. His work ranges across managing people and processes, training and hiring.
Apart from strong training capability he brings adept managerial competence, excellent communication and people skills, ability to interface with people at all levels, managing cross nation relationships and an ability work across varied domains.
He also contributes to a regular column for Economic Times and occasionally to CSRwire on CSR and sustainability issues.
]]>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 20:05:59 +0530<![CDATA[Future of Handicraft: The Opportunity]]>https://www.monamifoundation.com/blogs/post/future-of-handicraft-the-opportunity

Future of Handicraft: The Opportunity

The Global Handicraft market is on a fast track. The market stood at a value of USD 704.7 billion in 2022. Interestingly, the Global Computer Hardware market is similar sized. Something, that is tracked and chased by lot of my friends.

The handcrafts market is completely fragmented, unlike the hardware market, where there are several large players like Dell and HP

The handicrafts market is projected to witness a CAGR of 11.8% over the forecast period of 2023-2028. It is expected to reach USD 1376.12 billion by 2028.( Data as per EMR report. here is a report of similar numbers by IMARC.)

Of the top 8 handicraft manufacturers, none of them hit a revenue of $1B or even close to it.

There is a huge opportunity to address this market. The consumers are becoming more aware of supporting the local artisans and making more conscious choices to use handcrafted.

In India we have been supporting our Artisans since time immemorial. Now with the newfound confidence and desire to lead global initiatives, we have the Opportunity of a lifetime.

We need to focus on the following areas for large scale intervention:

  1. Contemporary Designs
  2. Capacity Building
  3. Market Linkages

There is no reason why we can’t have $10B-$20B revenue company from India that focuses on sustainable handicraft products for domestic and overseas markets.

With the right investments, the Future of Handicraft is joined in the hip to the Future of a sustainable planet.

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