About Kalaa

Through an almost cosmic series of events, Kalaa was born - out of the love, labour and collective manifestation of +1000 powerful female creators. This is our moment of reflection, to stop and share our story with the world.

Kalaa has been working at the intersection of gender focused labour innovation and sustainable design. (www.thekalaastore.com and www.kalaasakhi.org) We’re here to start a conversation around flexible work for women and its power in unlocking female labor supply - handicraft is our medium to build this.

We’re here to advocate for representation of the global south in the conversation around sustainability and to place the local Indian woman at the centre of this discussion. Kalaa Sakhis teach us practices of sustainable consumption and production every day - it is her house where end-of-life saris are woven into new dhurries by hand, and old jars and repurposed into diyas. Fashion is activism for us - it is our vehicle to share these practices with the world through slowly crafted handmade creations

We’re here to connect with you - a community of change-makers - who through your practices, big and small, advocate for a better world by choosing to consume sustainably, to create powerfully and to amplify the voice of the divine feminine

About the Founders:

Ananya is a social entrepreneur working at the intersection of gender, craft and livelihood. She started her career as an Investment Banker with Deutsche Bank working on cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare space. On a mission to drive impact at scale, she pivoted paths to join the Clinton Foundation in India, where she worked for 3+ years on national public health implementation programs. She witnessed the dexterity and power of female frontline workers on field - specifically, their ability to place feminist qualities of care and compassion at the forefront of their work. This motivated Ananya to dedicate her career towards labor innovation in the gender space. She gains solace spending her days celebrating the divine feminine and co-creating with women across Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana through the Kalaa Sakhi Livelihood and Skilling project.

Isha is a specialist in the art, craft and skilling space. With over 20 years of experience, she has been a pioneer in her field and curated one of India’s first art exhibitions to amplify the voice of emerging artists. She is a recipient of the Karmaveer Puruskar award for her exemplary contribution in the fields of art and social development. Her work has always been at the grassroots, collaborating and ideating with artisans who were yet to be given a voice. Over-awed by the wealth of creativity lying untapped in India’s bylanes, Isha was motivated to build Kalaa.