Management

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Neelam Chhiber, Managing Director & Co Founder

Neelam Chhiber, an Industrial Designer from National Institute of Design is widely known as a leader in the social entrepreneurial and retail space through her undertakings- Industree and Mother Earth. She is also an alumnus of Social Impact International as well as Global Social Benefit Incubator, Santa Clara University, USA.

Neelam planted the seeds of her entrepreneurial journey in rural India in 1994 and has never looked back. Through her undertakings Industree and Mother Earth she has created a flourishing handicraft manufacturing and retail business effectively closing the gap between rural artisans and the retail market.

Industree is a social enterprise that links rural producers to urban markets. Industree has obtained investment from Future Group (India’s largest retail chain) to build a retail brand called Mother Earth, which is part (14%) producer owned. Industree is converging backwards to createa complete solution for fair and equitable distribution of returns from consumer to producer.

Neelam believes that Mother Earth will provide a strong marketing platform for Food, Fashionand Home which will augment producer incomes, increase the potential of ownership and will drive efficiency.

She is of the firm view that Design education has been key to 360 degree thinking. Neelam believes Mother Earth’s biggest challenge and reward has been to facilitate and enable producers to manage themselves in changing scenarios.

In the last two decades, for her outstanding work in social livelihood sectors, she has received various awards such as The Indian Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2011 from Schwab Foundation and L’Oreal Paris Femina Women Awards 2012 for Social Impact.