Below is a sampling of recent interns and volunteers.

Tatyana Dolgaya: One of my most memorable moments at Udyogini happened during a new entrepreneur training session at one of the organization's rural centers. The session covered basic accounting and record keeping, and many of the illiterate women brought their literate husbands to class to make sure that someone in the family grasped the vital concepts. After observing the session I was given the chance to ask the new entrepreneurs about their experience with Udyogini so far. One of the literate husbands emphatically exclaimed how glad he was that his caste was finally being included in the business world, something previously inconceivable. The empowerment born out of Udyogini's training and inclusion programs is worth far more than the profits earned through the clients' subsequent business activities."

Laura de Haan: Laura pursued a four-month internship in Udyogini 2009. She was a Masters student of International Development Studies, University of Utrecht, Netherlands. For her Master's thesis, she studied the impact of Udyogini's capacity-building work on the development of the business development service providers (BDSP). Laura has this to say about Udyogini's BDSP capacity-building work: "There are a lot of obstacles on the road, such as a lack of trust of other villagers, a lack of water, family problems and transportation issues, though Udyogini has found out a way to find and select those women as BDSPs who are motivated and able to overcome these obstacles and create successful enterprises."

Kellie Coppenrath: Kellie came to Udyogini for a year in August 2008 as an UNNITI Foundation Fellow. She graduated from Occidental College, California and had worked for a year before she came to Udyogini. She contributed in small and big ways to our work and engaged herself in impact assessments, strategic planning, proposal development, annual report preparation and other activities that integrated her with the organization. Her work with us helped her to secure a place in a prominent MBA program in Europe.

Aman Dhingra: An MBA from Duke University and with corporate experience, Aman did the market assessment and supply chain strategy for Rural Business Hubs projects in Jharkhand and Udaipur. In his blog, Aman had this to say about his experience with Udyogini:
At Udyogini, I realized how a scientific approach to problems of rural India can work wonders. I experienced first-hand, how Udyogini works at the grassroots to create a difference in the lives of women in rural India. It was immensely gratifying to give back to the society while working with such a dedicated set of people.

Sonny Kushwaha: Sonny, from Canada, came to us after a stint with Merrill Lynch. He came through Village Volunteers, Seattle (www.villagevolunteers.org) and did a social business plan for the tasar silk weavers project in Bihar. Sonny continues to provide us with pro bono technical support even as he begins his MBA studies at Harvard Business School in 2010.

Eibhlin NiOgain: Eibhlin is from Ireland and did a study for us entitled "Leaving Prostitution: Psychological, Social and Economic factors Affecting Sex Workers in Rural Bihar."

To apply to work with Udyogini as an intern or volunteer write to: hr@udyogini.org