Amita Deshpande (reCharkha)

Amita Desphande is the founder of reCharkha: The EcoSocial Tribe. Based in India, reCharkha employs rural and tribal women and youth to make upcycled textiles using the traditional charkha and handloom. These textiles are crafted into handbags, totes, home decor and more. 

About reCharkha

reCharkha’s hand-woven tote and journal cover.

The name reCharkha is based off of a charkha, a spinning wheel for fibers. The enterprise explained that the “charkha was used as a symbol of India's Independence or Swadeshi movement, where people used their own charkha and handloom at home to make their own khadi (hand-woven) silk or wool yarn, and then fabric, thus symbolizing their self-reliance.”

The social enterprise began as a way to combine the team’s formal training with their love for arts and crafts to “contribute to the eco-social cause.”

Amita founded reCharkha as a response to the increasing waste issues around India. Landfills are becoming overcrowded, thus garbage is burned and contributes to pollution. Additionally, a lot of trash is carried into streams “then into the rivers and finally the oceans…in the process harming so many of our co-inhabitants!”

The enterprise also works to address the rift between urban and rural opportunities in India. reCharkha employs over 20 individuals, offering reliable work and a steady income.

In the Because Accelerator, Amita will create a strategy for reaching an international audience to increase sales and opportunities for the people she employs.

The Because Accelerator is a completely free online training and mentorship program for entrepreneurs who have product-focused ideas and businesses in areas impacted by poverty.