Aruna Project
Aruna’s mission is to create lifelong freedom for victims and survivors of sex trafficking through employment that’s supported by holistic care. They do this by combining the best of the business and non-profit worlds: making, marketing and selling premium athleisure bags and accessories.
Maddie Bell
11 years at P&G in Brand Management; Cincinnati, OH and Fayetteville, AR.
Other involved Alums (4): Tom Rockwood, Steve Simpson, Dan Price, Kathleen Glover.
Maddie joins a cadre of P&G Alum involved in the leadership and management of Aruna. She has served on the Aruna Project Board since 2018 and is directing the brand management and on-line strategies. These strategies have helped increase sales of the goods made by the Mumbai-based and formerly trafficked women production workers. She joins prior sponsor Tom Rockwood as well as Steve Simpson, Dan Price and Kathleen Grover who were former Board members or are significant fund raisers for the organization.
In her letter of support, Maddie describes how Aruna’s practical approach provides sustainable employment coupled with holistic care to victims of sex trafficking; “I’ve seen the extremely well-thought out and comprehensive Aruna model that recognizes the holistic and complex nature of sex-trafficking. I’ve seen solution-based strategies that are making a difference in the lives of hundreds of women. The primary impact most compelling is an 85% sustained freedom rate, meaning 85% of freed women who have come through the Aruna freedom pathway remain free and are no longer at risk of re-trafficking.”
For young women freed from sex trafficking, Aruna offers a position in the Aruna Apprenticeship Program. The Aruna Apprenticeship Program is a paid 9-12 month program providing transitional housing, trauma counseling, life skill education, and skill & trade development in soft goods manufacturing leading to full time employment in Aruna’s Freedom Business. The primary purpose is to ensure lifelong freedom by equipping and empowering survivors with the personal tools to self-regulate trauma stimuli as well as thrive in a soft goods manufacturing employment opportunity (namely Aruna’s Freedom Business).
The Apprenticeship Program will further develop business partnerships in industries outside of soft goods manufacturing that are seeking entry level employees. It matches survivors with specific industries of interest to accelerate the number of women sustainably freed. The primary purpose of Phase 2 is to prove the scalability of the Aruna model and ensure innumerable young women experience lifelong freedom through employment supported by holistic care.
The $25,000 PGAF grant will help expand the Apprenticeship program and pay for the critical needs of 25 recently freed women including costs for transitional housing, life skill training, trauma counseling and skills development in soft goods manufacturing. Funds will also be used for additional counselors, tailoring trainers, new sewing machines for this enlarged pool of beneficiaries and fund staff to develop new corporate partners outside the soft good manufacturing arena. 32 new jobs will be created as a result of this spending. An additional 165 women will enter the expanded program via the Outreach Centers, all of which will help impact more than 500 family/community members.
Saachi was forced into marriage at 13, became a teenage mother, and later sought work in Mumbai to support her daughter. Deceived and trapped in a life she never chose, she lost hope until she met Ranjana from the Aruna team. Though fearful of change, Saachi slowly built trust and, with support, found freedom through the Aruna Apprenticeship Program. There, she received housing, life skills training, trauma counseling, and trade development in soft goods manufacturing. Excelling in the program, she secured a stable job and now provides for her daughter’s education while helping other women find freedom. “I find satisfaction in my work because I’m paving the way for others on this journey.”