Mission
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.
Sponsoring P&G Alumni
Sponsoring Alum: Maddie Bell
11 years at P&G in Brand Management; Cincinnati, OH and Fayetteville, AR
Other Alums: Tom Rockwood, Steve Simpson, Dan Price and 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 that have helped increase sales of the goods made by the Mumbai-based and formerly trafficked women production workers.
In her letter of support Maddie describes how Aruna’s practical approach provides sustainable employment coupled with holistic care to victims of sex trafficking; “Similar to P&G, Aruna operates within the backdrop of key values: Focused on Her, Excellence, Integrity, Humility, Relentlessness, and People over Process. I’ve become much more aware of the many great organizations out there, helping women who have been trafficked gain employment. But I can confidently say that I don’t think that anyone involved in this type of work has the comprehensive, connected and long-term strategies that Aruna has crafted and is executing on and succeeding in.”
Apprenticeship Project Phase 2
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 softgoods manufacturing employment opportunity (namely Aruna’s Freedom Business).
In Phase 2, the Apprenticeship Program will develop business partnerships in industries outside of softgoods manufacturing. The primary purpose of Phase 2 is to prove the scalability of the Aruna Freedom Process and ensure innumerable trafficking victims experience lifelong freedom through employment supported by holistic care.
2025 Grant
The $25,000 PGAF grant will help expand Phase 2 of the Apprenticeship program. Grant funds will be used for additional personnel and resources to ensure the women experience success upon first entering the program including an expanded training center location, 5 Juki sewing machines and 3-5 computers.
The expansion plan includes
1) Curriculum Refinement – Holistic care, Skills training Development and 4 Pillar Assessment;
2) Implementation refinements & Expanded job placement;
3) Research Study and Analysis – The organization has identified a new tool that has demonstrated strong impact in decreasing counseling meeting times from 3 hours to 45 minutes while developing survivor agency in their own healing journey, and
4) Review and Refine ongoing practices. As a result of this effort, at least 165 women will be provided skills training at the outreach centers while 25 will be employed by Aruna within their production operations.
Success Story
Saachi’s (pseudonym) story:
Forced into marriage at the age of 13, Saachi’s naiveté to the grown-up world quickly passed. She became pregnant and gave birth to a girl. Shortly after, her husband tragically died, leaving her as an uneducated teenage mother of a young daughter. At the advice of someone in the village, she sought employment in Mumbai as a means to provide for her daughter, who she left with her mother in the village. Through a promising job lead, she was ultimately deceived and sold into the brothel system. Saachi longed for escape. After months and countless customers, Saachi lost all hope for her future. She lived vicariously through her daughter, knowing that her own suffering provided enough income to ensure her daughter was safe, secure and provided for back in the village.
Members of Aruna’s Outreach Team met Saachi inside the brothel. Over a matter of time and through trust and strategic steps, Saachi was freed. Though freed, her journey was far from over, as past relationships and past trauma do not quickly let go. Members of Aruna’s Training Center team worked to ensure Saachi was adjusting well in transitional housing. The Apprenticeship Program Team helped her begin the trauma counseling journey and, at the right time, began to layer in life skill training and soft goods manufacturing training.
In a matter of months, Saachi had graduated and interviewed for a position in Aruna’s Freedom Business where, today, she is a full-time employee, creating Aruna’s premium athleisure products while earning a salary with benefits. This new reality also ensures her daughter has a bright future through a top education. Regarding her freedom, Saachi shared, “I get such satisfaction doing this job [because] I am making a way for many more women to join me in this freedom journey.”