WomenWeave is an organization dedicated to empowering and improving the lives of women who weave in rural India. Its goal is to make handloom a profitable, fulfilling and sustainable income-earning activity for women.
Moving towards this objective, WomenWeave follows a holistic approach towards the weavers it works with. Alongside design, skill-enhancement and marketing interventions, WomenWeave also undertakes health, education and childcare initiatives. Overall, the idea is to have happy, healthy and empowered women who make a constructive contribution to their families and to society.
WomenWeave is a registered Charitable Trust, supporting the role of women in handloom weaving since 2002.
Headquartered in Mumbai, it has a field office in Maheshwar, Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh.
A team of highly qualified and dedicated individuals manages WomenWeave:
Sally Holkar
Sally Holkar has thirty years of experience in handloom production, management and design through the co-founding of Rehwa Society and the subsequent management of that organization.
Sunita Namjoshi
Sunita Namjoshi, has more than twenty years of experience in textile design and marketing. She owns and manages her company, Synergy, for export and her domestic marketing company, Yamini.
Subhasini Ali
Subhasini Ali, Co-chairperson of All India Women's Council and former M.P. from Kanpur. She has worked as a consultant with Central Cottage Industries Emporium in Mumbai, with Uttar Pradesh Handloom Corporation and worked with craftspeople and weavers. She has been involved in struggles around women's issues.
Elana Dickson
Elana Dickson is a graduate of the Royal College of Arts, London and has worked for many famous textile houses: amongst them Jack Larsen in the USA and Manual Canovas in Paris.
Rekha Bhatia
Rekha Bhatia is a trained textile designer from Rhode Island School of Design in the USA. For many years she has designed and sold her own hand-woven products through her company, Mosaic.
Hema Patel
Hema Patel is a self-taught handloom expert and weave-designer. She designs and markets her products for local and international sale through her company, Amba.
Zehra Tyabji
Zehra Tyabji is a graduate from the Central St. Martins School of Art and the Royal College of Arts, London. She has wide experience in graphic design for corporate identities, World Fairs, International Film Festivals and various craft organisations.
Feruzan Mehta
Feruzan Mehta is India Director of Seeds of Peace and a trained professional teacher-trainer.
Sue Toomey
Sue Toomey is Conference Director for The Economist Group in Asia where she oversees programs, marketing and government relations for the company's event division. She has a wide range of experience in international marketing and public relations.