Even before people could comprehend the possibilities of social incubation in India, MAYA had already supported programs into social enterprises in order to reach scale and impact almost 2 decades ago. They are a Karnataka-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working for over 25 years in the space of social transformation. They began their journey by driving change in systemic issues of education, livelihoods and health. Of their programs, 3 have become independent organisations known as Prajayatna, Maya Organic and Labournet all of which have substantial impact on the ground as NGOs/ Social Enterprises.

MAYA is currently driving a health Initiative that focuses on promoting preventive healthcare amongst urban and rural poor/marginalised.

Who they are

They have been established formally under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act of 1960 as of 19th January 1991. Their approach over the decades has been to focus on systemic issues that needed their urgent attention.

They began by working closely with street children almost 2 decades ago where they campaigned against child labour and pioneered in the space of child rights advocacy, policy and training at the grass root level. In their attempt to get children out of the street they realised that education was crucial and they evolved into community mobilizations and ownerships of local stakeholders of schools to reform the education system from the inside. This now is known as “Prajayatna”- or “Citizens Initiative for education”.

In the past they found that many children were still dropping out of school due to the lack of employability opportunities post schooling. Here they introduced many bridge schools, prevocational and vocational training centres for youth to support them get back into mainstream jobs. This evolved into what we know today as “Labournet”.

They also intervened in Chanapatna- Karnataka by reviving the local art of Lacware toy making and supporting local artisans by adding engineering designs to an old dying art. This unit today is known as MAYA organic catering to a large international and domestic market with their unique organic handmade toys and accessories.

Their past learnings have helped them understand that health is a critical parameter in an individual’s life. This is to say they realised that no matter how much they educate a child in schools or send people back to work, all is lost when a person falls ill and gets into a debt trap. They strongly believe that “without health there is no escape from poverty!” from here began their ongoing MAYAHealth Initiative which addresses key health care delivery challenges in their country.

Their Mission “Working to create an empowered and equitable society that systematically addresses livelihood, education and health.”

 

Projects:

Prajayatna

This is an intervention that is active in over 50,000 schools in 3 states in India. Post incubation with MAYA, this is now an independent program. The program is currently funded by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.

Labour Net

This is a skill development and livelihood initiative that has trained over 100,000 workers till date. LabourNet today is an independent for-profit social enterprise aspiring to train over 500,000 individuals. LabourNet is an NSDC partner with funding from Acumen Fund.

MAYA Organic

This is an initiative that is being run in Channapatna. The project is focused on skill development of artisans in traditional lacquer arts. The project today provides employment to 75 people. The key outcome of the project has been to ensure that traditional lacquer based arts can be sustained in a rapidly changing global economy.

MAYAHealth

Over the years they have learnt that health is critical to an individual’s life hence, MAYA is now driving a health program that focus on preventive and promotive health practises in rural and semi urban communities of Karnataka. In the first 2 years of pilot phase of the MAYA model they have established the importance of preventive health care, HN model development, a training model for health navigators mainly women as micro entrepreneurs,introduce services and products in preventive health care, initiate a collective enterprise model, mapped and tied with Primary Health Centre(PHCs) and other health care service providers.

They are now looking at a second phase of 2 years to consolidate the model and build the bases for scale and impact. They plan to cover the whole Channapatna taluk with additional 90 HNs and move into one more location during the project period. Next 7 years they are driven towards impacting over 1.5 million lives.